A Different Future
by mykkila09
Summary: Fix-it story, also, a re-post of previous titled story "Fixing the Future, Changing the Past"-different name, same story. Story contains slash of the Erik/Charles and Alex/Beast kind...summary inside...
1. Midnight Visitor

**Setting: **X-Men First Class**  
Chapter: 1: **Midnight Visitor**  
Summary: **The night before everything went to hell, Charles receives a futuristic visitor. What will the visit reveal and will it change anything?

**Chapter Word Count: **955

**A/N: **ok, this is basically a repost, and a rename. The story was deleted from both and my computer but I found it and after rereading it, I got interested again and I just had to repost it. For those that had been reading before, I hope you're still a fan now…I really am sorry about the deleting.

**Disclaimer: **X-Men and all its affiliates belong to Marvel and everyone else. No copyright or trademark infringement is intended and no money is being made from this.

**My Disclaimer: **If I owned X-Men; the Beach Divorce never would've happened, Charles and Erik would've been lovers and Hank and Alex would be together and there'd be lots and lots of smut.

"Speaking"  
_'Thinking'  
"dream"  
__**"Speaking telepathically"**_

* * *

Charles ran a hand through his hair as he stood in front of the window in the study. His mind was filled with everything that had happened earlier; from the President's speech, to trying to reassure the teens that everything would be alright, knowing they'd be facing Shaw tomorrow, the fight with Erik and the one with Raven.

With a sigh, he turned away from the window and headed over to the bar; grabbing the bottle of scotch, he took out a glass and as he filled it, he glanced at the table where the abandoned chess set lay.

Chess had always been a part of his life. He had first gotten interested due to his father and had quickly become a master at it, but when Brian Xavier passed away, so did his only chance of truly playing and enjoying the game…until he met Erik.

The German brought back a pleasure he had, for a long time, thought he would never experience again. Raven wasn't one for chess, and as a child and a teen, he sure as hell wouldn't have asked his mother and especially not his stepfather or stepbrother. But with Erik, he found another person that loved the game as much as he did.

But it wasn't just the game that drew him to the stoic, older man. There was just something about Erik, something that called to him. From the moment he touched Erik's mind that night he pulled him out of the water, he had been captivated. Of all the minds he touched, Erik was different; being in his mind was like nothing he'd ever experienced before. It was dark and harsh and there were a lot of pain and anger and rage, and yet, it was soft and there were flashes of light and hope and it was those that led him to believe there was more to the man than believed.

He knew everything about him and he knew him better than anyone else, but sometimes he felt as if he didn't know the man at all. Point in case, their conversation tonight; he had hoped to try and change the German's mind from this plan of vengeance, but instead, all he had done was to make Erik angry and if that wasn't bad enough, he had a feeling that he had seriously messed up his relationship with his sister.

"That's because you always want to control everything and sometimes, you can't," a voice said.

Charles' head flew up and he stared in shock and surprise at the person standing a short distance away. His body tensed and he took a slight step back, "Who are you?"

"Who am I is not important," the person said, "What _is_ important is what I have to say."

Charles was intrigued, and yet terrified at the same time. He couldn't read the person's mind and that was what was terrifying because it meant he had no idea _how _they got into the mansion and into his study without being seen by one of the kids, or by Eric who had already familiarized himself with the metal of the house, and the metal that everyone else wore, and would know if a foreign metal was present.

"Can't read my mind, can you?" the person smirked. "That's ok; even if you could, you wouldn't understand what you see anyways."

"What have you done to the others?" Charles asked. He had tried calling out for help mentally, but received no response from any of the others.

"Nothing," the person answered, "the reason they aren't answering your mental call is because from the moment you noticed me, your telepathy has been blocked."

Charles froze. He had never heard of anyone being able to block his powers; only Emma had been able to.

"Yes, Ms. Frost was talented, wasn't she?" the person chuckled.

'_Was?' _Charles thought to himself.

"Yes was," the person said, "but please, don't bother asking as Ms. Frost's life is not what's important. We do not have the time. You need to know this."

"What do I need to know?" Charles asked, pushing the miniscule information he had gleaned about Emma to the far recess of his mind.

"Can you read a book and know everything about the book but never understand just what the book is about?" the person asked instead of answering Charles' question.

Charles' brows came together as he turned the question over in his mind. "You read a book to understand what it's about. Why read one if you're just reading it to read it and you're not going to make the effort to understand what it is you're reading?"

The person stared at Charles and a small smile played at their lips, "Interesting answer. Although I expect nothing less from a genius; what is it you studied? Genetics?" the person waved his hand in the air, "that's not important. What is important is what's going to happen a few hours from now."

"What do you mean?" Charles asked. "Will you stop speaking in riddles and tell me just what it is you came here for? I don't want to hurt you."

The person straightened up and looked Charles directly in his eyes, "Alright, I'll tell you. In a few hours, you and your team will face off against Shaw. The outcome of the confrontation between Erik and Shaw will change the course of everyone's future. You and Erik are at wars right now because of your personal beliefs; you believe that Erik doesn't have to kill Shaw while Erik believes he has to. I am going to show you the outcome of both choices."

The person walked over to Charles and grabbed his shoulder. "Here we go."

* * *

**A/N 2: **and there's the chapter…since you're at this point, review so I can know what you thought…


	2. One Side of the Coin

**Setting: **X-Men First Class**  
Chapter: 2: **One Side of the Coin**  
Summary: **The night before everything went to hell, Charles receives a futuristic visitor. What will the visit reveal and will it change anything?

**Chapter Word Count: **2,039

**A/N: **here is the second chapter! Hope you like it.

**Disclaimer: **X-Men and all its affiliates belong to Marvel and everyone else. No copyright or trademark infringement is intended and no money is being made from this.

**My Disclaimer: **If I owned X-Men; the Beach Divorce never would've happened, Charles and Erik would've been lovers and Hank and Alex would be together and there'd be lots and lots of smut.

"Speaking"  
_'Thinking'  
"dream"  
__**"Speaking telepathically"**_

* * *

Charles sucked in a deep breath and his eyes widened as the study swirled and disappeared for a few seconds before reappearing. He shook his head to try and clear away the jumbled feeling. When he was done, he looked around, eyes glittering with confusion as he realized he was in his study. He saw himself and Erik in the room, but the German was leaving and he realized, they were following.

They followed Erik to his room and Charles couldn't stop the gasp when he saw Raven in Erik's bed. As he listened to their conversation, guilt filled him as he saw the insecurity on his sister's face and heard Erik reassure her that her blue form was beautiful. The guilt fled him and hurt, jealousy and betrayal replaced it as he saw the kiss the two shared.

"Jealousy is such an ugly thing," the person grinned, "Don't worry though; Erik has no designs on your sister. He kissed her because he knew she was feeling insecure about her form and she needed to be told she was beautiful."

"But I never gave her reason to believe it was anything but!" Charles protested.

"You may not have meant to," the person corrected gently, "but you did. Your reasons years ago for telling Raven to stay in her blond form may have been sound and reasonable then, but as you both grew, you still held on to those reasons while Raven grew to hate it because she never understood why as you never really explained it to her." they nodded back to the frozen scene of Erik kissing Raven, "before she came to Erik's room, she was with Hank. He finally perfected the cure, however Raven didn't take it. Hank, in a misguided attempt at changing her mind, told her people would never find her blue form beautiful.

"He was right on some level of course, but to Raven—who's always been insecure about her natural form—that was the final blow. So, she went to Erik because for the last few days, he's shown her that he accepted and even prefers her natural form and she needed that."

The scene continued moving and Charles turned his attention back to it; he re-watched the confrontation between Raven and him in the kitchen and hearing his own words from a different point of view made him wince. Watching as Raven stormed from the kitchen, he kept his eyes on his other form.

"I never-I never realized my wanting to protect her was hurting her," Charles whispered eventually. "It's the reason I had her stay in her blonde form when we were kids. I knew if people knew she was blue, they'd take her away from me and they would've hurt her. I couldn't bare that thought because I couldn't lose her."

"You should probably tell her that," the person suggested. They reached out and grabbed Charles' shoulder, "on to the next scene we go."

~…~

They appeared in a hangar and Charles watched as they all waited at the Blackbird for Hank. He looked up with everyone else when they heard the footsteps and like the others, couldn't stop the gasp when he saw his blue, furry friend.

"What happened to Hank?" Charles asked, eyes wide as he took in the young man.

"The cure didn't work," the person explained, "Raven's cells didn't reverse the mutation; it enhanced it, turning him blue and furry."

"So if Raven had taken it?" Charles asked, horror in his voice at something happening to his sister.

"It's a good thing she didn't, isn't it?" the person replied without really answering Charles' question.

Charles had no reply to that, so instead, he just watched the scene. He saw them leave, the fight against Shaw's minions, Erik's use of his powers, the mishap with the Blackbird, landing on the beach, Sean and Alex fighting against Angel and the human soldiers; he saw Erik rush out of the plane and into Shaw's submarine, the fights between Azazel and Hank and Raven, and the confrontation between Erik and Shaw.

Hearing his friend agree with the madman hit him hard, but it was nothing compared to seeing Erik don Shaw's helmet, ignoring other Charles' words of protest, and sending the coin through the man's head, not realizing, or remembering, that the other Charles' mind was still connected and therefore he felt everything.

Charles let out a painful gasp and almost fell to his knees as phantom pain hit him as he could imagine experiencing that.

"It's ok," the person squeezed his shoulder, "it's not you."

"But it is," Charles gasped out, "or it's going to be; on some level it is me."

"Charles," the person said, "you have to watch."

And he did; with horror he watched as Erik floated Shaw's body from the submarine, as the ships fired on them causing Erik to retaliate and then, he heard them;

"_Those are good men on that ship Erik! Innocent men that are just following orders!"_

"No!" Charles shook his head. He knew, he _knew, _that that was the wrong thing to say. It was a valid argument, to anyone _but _Erik. And he couldn't believe the other Charles had actually uttered them, _especially_ after everything he knew about Erik.

"_I've been at the mercy of men just following orders," Erik replied calmly, though his eyes were burning with rage, "Never gain." With that, he sent the missiles back to the ship._

Charles watched in horror and disbelief as he and Erik fought, as Moira took out her gun and shot at Erik, watched him deflect the bullets and the pain in the German's eyes when he realized that Charles had been hit. He saw the pain in his other self's eyes, but that was eclipsed by what he saw in Erik's eyes the moment other Charles rejected him. It was like a shutter had fallen over the pale green orbs, cutting Erik off finally from the other Charles.

"Come," the person said gently grabbed Charles' shoulder and the beach scene melted away. Images flashed by and through his tears, Charles caught glimpses here and there; he saw Emma getting killed by Erik after she caused Sean and Alex to die; he saw his sister becoming a cold-hearted person, uncaring about anything except for Erik and his cause, he saw his school flourishing but without the two people he wanted most at his side; he saw his death at the hands of his own student, the war that Erik predicted, the death of two people who obviously meant a lot to him. And then, the final image.

He watched as an older Erik made his way across the grounds at the mansion, to where the three graves were, before falling to his knees in front of the other Charles' grave.

_Erik reached out a shaking hand and placed it palm flat on Charles' grave, "Oh Charles…mein Liebling. Things could've been so different for us. There __**was **__a war Charles, just like I predicted." He pulled his hand back and shifted until he was leaning back against the headstone. "I am an old man Charles and I am not a man to regret anything I've done with my life. And yet…" _

_Erik gave a chuckle. "I blame this on you of course. Before I met you, my life had a purpose and that was to kill Shaw. And then, you came along and filled my mind with ideas of finding other mutants, of all of us banding together. After the Cuban incident back in 1960, after what the soldiers did, I knew that mutants and humans would wage a war on each other and that we needed to be prepared for it, and I was right. _

"_The Brotherhood was created that day and we made our plans. I am coming to realize now that perhaps my actions were too hasty. Yes, the humans were at fault, but perhaps even myself was as well. My actions only encouraged their own emotions; that mutants are to be feared, and they retaliated. What happened with Jean only solidified that. It was only then I realized the true ramifications of my actions. I became what I had hated the most; I became Shaw. _

"_I wanted a weapon and I used your student. I knew the Phoenix was pure rage and I unleashed her anyways. I told you before, leashing her powers was a big mistake, but I finally understand why you did it. I have to admit Liebling, this was not how I thought life would turn out after I met you. I told you the truth that day, we were supposed to stand together, united, one team."_

_Erik sighed and it was so sad, "My one final regret is that I never told you how I felt. I loved you Charles; even more than I loved Magda. And I hurt you in the worst of ways. I paralyzed you, I took your sister away from you and in the end, I left her, because she became one of them. I never told you because I knew on some level that it wouldn't work out. We both wanted different things; you wanted a school, I wanted an army. In the end, my need for an army caused your death and that is my biggest regret of all."_

_Erick chuckled sadly, "If I knew then what I know now, I would've had settled for a compromise Charles, because that would've meant we'd be together, that I wouldn't have become __**him**__. Your school was brilliant, and I knew it would be, but never did I think that that was a life for me, not because I didn't want it, but because I knew I didn't deserve it. You told me often you saw the good in me, that there was more to me than pain and anger, but Charles, when you've heard something day after day, time after time, you believe it and nothing can change it. I see the truth now; Shaw didn't want a weapon, he wanted an heir, a successor and so he forged one…in me and I gave him exactly that. I killed Shaw, and then, I took his place."_

Charles was quiet as he listened to the German. Never had he heard so much from the man. Never did he think that Erik would ever admit to any mistakes as the man seemed to pride himself as always having a solution to whatever problem he was having or planned to encounter, something he suspected came from his time the Camps, under Shaw and gaining his revenge.

The person squeezed Charles' shoulder and the scene melted away and they were back in the study.

Charles ran a hand through his hair and walked over to the table, pouring an almost full glass of scotch and downing it in one go. He grimaced slightly and let out a heavy sigh. "So, I was right; killing Shaw brought Erik everything but peace. He started a war and in the end, became the one thing he wants to destroy."

"Arrogance is most unbecoming," the person said and the frustration could be heard in their voice.

"You think I'm arrogant?" Charles was in disbelief, "me? I _knew _what Erik's plans for taking a stand against humans would result in. While there are many mutants around the world, our number is still significantly less than those of humans. Most, if not all, mutants are born to human parents. To start a war against the humans will result in exactly what I just saw. What Erik wants is pure genocide and it's awfully similar to what the Nazis attempted to do with the Jews."

"So you believe your way is the right way?" the person asked, "you think that Erik should allow Shaw to live and let him be judged by the law for his crimes and that that will pave the way for humans to understand and eventually accept mutants?"

"Yes," Charles nodded, "that is what I believe and what I think should and will happen."

"Ok," the person said as they walked over to him and grabbed his shoulders, "let's see how things would play out if you had your way."

* * *

**A/N 2: **and that's chapter two. No flames, but I don't mind constructive criticism and I would definitely love reviews. So…go on…write some


	3. The Other Side of the Coin

**Setting: **X-Men First Class**  
Chapter: 3: **The Other Side of the Coin**  
Summary: **The night before everything went to hell, Charles receives a futuristic visitor. What will the visit reveal and will it change anything?

**Chapter Word Count: **1,763

**A/N: **here's the new chapter. Enjoy!

**Disclaimer: **X-Men and all its affiliates belong to Marvel and everyone else. No copyright or trademark infringement is intended and no money is being made from this.

**My Disclaimer: **If I owned X-Men; the Beach Divorce never would've happened, Charles and Erik would've been lovers and Hank and Alex would be together and there'd be lots and lots of smut.

"Speaking"  
_'Thinking'  
"dream"  
__**"Speaking telepathically"**_

* * *

Charles blinked as he looked around, realizing they were standing on the beach, more specifically, they were in the submarine. He watched as Erik fought against Shaw before eventually removing the helmet from the man's dead.

"_I'm sorry Charles," Erik said as he lifted the helmet and brought it to his head, "it's not that I don't trust you."_

"_**Erik, don't! Wait!" **__Charles pleaded, __**"Don't do this. I know what this means to you, but I promise, there is another way. Just listen to me…and…if you don't like it…then I won't stop you. Just please…give me the chance to say what I have to say."**_

_Erik paused, the helmet inches above his head. He wanted to ignore Charles, but the brunet had come to mean so much to him that he couldn't. Without even thinking about it, he slowly lowered the helmet, "Fine. What do you have to say?"_

Charles watched as Erik kept Shaw alive and brought the man out of the submarine; he watched as Moira radioed in to her superiors letting them know that they had captured the mutant responsible, and as Erik warned Azazel not to even try to teleport Shaw as he manipulated a thin sheet of metal towards the man's throat.

He felt triumph go through him when Shaw was led to a holding cell in the CIA. He watched in satisfaction as he and the others made their way back to New York and to the mansion, as the plans for the school went underway. He watched as Erik struggled to adjust to the new life before finally doing so; he watched his school come to fruition and even more triumph when his first set of students arrived.

That triumph soon diminished however when he saw the arguments between the CIA officials and William Stryker; as he and Erik although closer, having admit their feelings, still had a distance between them as they argued over training the students as warriors versus honing their abilities, in the end he Charles had won; as Shaw used Emma to escape the facility; as Emma attacked Moira, finding the location of the mansion and Shaw attacking the school;

_Erik looked at the destroyed mansion in horror. He thought this place was safe, that here they were protected, but he should've known better. His gaze flitted across the grounds, taking in the bodies of the students. _

"_Erik," Charles stumbled over to his lover. He reached out a hand to grab the metal manipulator._

"_Don't!" Erik warned as he stepped out of Charles' reach. _

_Charles' eyes flashed with hurt; he needed Erik and he was being pushed away._

"_I warned you Charles," Erik turned to face the man next to him. The remaining students made their way over to them, but he paid them no mind, "I told you this would happen."_

"_We had no idea of knowing," Charles protested, coughing a bit due to the slight smoke inhalation he had experienced._

"_I did!" Erik snapped out, "I knew what would happen and I listened to you anyway! I __**told**__ you Shaw had to die, that we couldn't leave him alive, but you thought differently. Now look, __**look**__ Charles; look at what he did! The school is destroyed and half of the students are gone!" _

_Erik was breathing heavily, but he wasn't the only one; Charles was as well. _

"_You think I don't know that?" Charles replied, pain and betrayal in his voice._

"_If the students had been trained to fight instead of only perfecting their gifts," Erik continued, "then they would've had a fighting chance. I should've trusted my instincts and do what I felt, what I __**knew **__was right. But I didn't; like always, I gave in to what you wanted."_

"_Erik," Charles' voice softened and his tears spilled over. His mind automatically searched out for his lover's, needing his comforting presence and reassurance._

"_Stay out of my head!" Erik forced the intrusion away, watching as Charles flinched back. "I allowed my feelings for you to cloud my better judgement, but no more. I'm going to do what we should've done from the start."_

"_Erik please," Charles reached out to grab the German's arm._

"_The last time you said those words," Erik stared at Charles, "I allowed Shaw to live…not again. He needs to be stopped before he finishes what he started all those years ago. I told you then Charles, there's a war coming and we need to fight."_

Charles swallowed hard as he watched the scene. The devastation and destruction tore at him; he watched as Erik left, some of the students going with him, including Raven, while the others stayed back; he could tell that the other Charles agreed with the man, but he still clung to his beliefs and instead, offered help to the government once again to stop Shaw; he saw Stryker's son William, turn the government against them, the mutants that William held prisoner; he saw the war happen with Shaw at the forefront, mutants and humans dying as no one could stop him; he saw the guns and bullets made against Erik's power; he saw Erik's face at the realization and watched as the man pushed a mutant, one of the ones that had stayed back with Charles, out of the way, taking the bullet for him.

"Enough!" Charles turned his head not wanting to see anymore.

The person nodded and grabbed Charles' shoulders; the scene faded away and they were back in the study.

Charles walked over to the chair and held tight to it. The images of what he had just seen would stay with him forever. "So, my wanting Erik to allow Shaw to live and to avoid a war, actually makes things worse?"

"I wouldn't say worse," the person corrected, "that situation was no better than the one I showed you earlier."

"Neither of our ideas worked," Charles looked up, "so what can we possibly do to prevent either of those scenarios from happening?"

"You listen…the both of you," the person replied.

"What?" Charles looked at him in disbelief.

"Ever heard of something called 'compromise'?" the person raised an eyebrow. "The question I asked you before all this started, what was it?"

Charles' brows furrowed for a split second as he recalled the words, "You asked if one can read a book, and know everything about the book, but not understand just what the book was about and I replied that there is no point in reading a book if you won't make the effort to understand what you're reading."

"Is your answer still the same?" the person asked.

Charles paused and really thought about the question and his previous reply. "You _can _read a book and know everything about it, without really understanding what it was you read. Reading books do not give you an instant understanding. You have to analyse and study it further to truly understand the message that is there."

"So by that reasoning," the person smiled, "you can read a person's mind, know everything about them, and still not understand them."

Charles opened his mouth to speak but stopped himself. Instantly, his mind went to Erik; he claimed to know everything about the German, but did he really know him?

"Ahh," the person grinned, "and there we go. You, Charles, know Erik Lensherr better than anyone else, but do you actually understand him? You're a telepath and that means you can read minds, but that doesn't give you credence to be self-righteous either. You have to understand Charles that your way is not always the right way. And sometimes, it's good to actually _talk _to people to get to truly understand what their feeling instead of reading it from their minds.

"Now, I'm not saying you're the only one at fault here, because you're not. Erik is at fault just as much as you, as is everyone else who lives here. I understand that having the ability to read minds opened you up to the world and made you grow up faster than expected because you were privy to a person's innermost and private thoughts, to who they truly were inside, but you cannot use your ability as your springboard for always wanting to be right.

"Erik is right; Shaw cannot be allowed to live, you've seen what would happen if he does. Right now, even Moira has no idea how her bosses would hold him if he did live, but in truth, the CIA has no intention of letting someone as dangerous as Sebastian Shaw live. So, Erik was right about that, and about the war that he thinks will happen; maybe it will, maybe it won't. As you saw, his actions after he kills Shaw was the springboard that people like Colonel Stryker needed to be against mutants and his future actions went a long way in ensuring humans would hate and fear mutants.

"You were also right; the humans outnumber the mutants on a greater scale, but, you cannot keep hoping humans and mutants will coexist peacefully by rolling over for them. If you keep bowing down to them, then they will feel that _they _are superior and soon they will take advantage of mutants. You need to understand Charles, for both of your sakes, for the sakes of mutants everywhere—present and future ones—you cannot be passive all the time. Sometimes you have to take an aggressive stand."

The person walked over to Charles and cupped his cheek, "You and Erik belong together, you need each other; Erik needs your calming and compassionate nature to ground him and you need his experience and survival skills. Just because you know him better than anyone, doesn't mean you truly understand him. _Talk _to him Charles, don't assume anything or take what you read from his mind at face value; instead of just hearing what he's saying, understand it. Talk to your sister as well; she needs to understand why you made the choice you did when you were kids and that you love her no matter what colour she is and that her natural form is as beautiful as her alternate one."

Charles swallowed over the lump in his throat, "I will."

"Good," the person smiled and stepped back. "You have the chance of a lifetime here Charles. Many people would love the opportunity to change their future, don't waste it. Goodbye Charles and take care."

With that, the person disappeared, leaving Charles staring at the spot. He had no idea how long he stood there. _'Was that real? Did all that just happen?'_


	4. Acceptance

**Setting: **X-Men First Class**  
Chapter: 4:** Acceptance**  
Summary: **The night before everything went to hell, Charles receives a futuristic visitor. What will the visit reveal and will it change anything?

**Chapter Word Count: **1,488

**A/N: **here's the new chapter. Hope you guys like it...enjoy...

**Disclaimer: **X-Men and all its affiliates belong to Marvel and everyone else. No copyright or trademark infringement is intended and no money is being made from this.

**My Disclaimer: **If I owned X-Men; the Beach Divorce never would've happened, Charles and Erik would've been lovers and Hank and Alex would be together and there'd be lots and lots of smut.

"Speaking"  
_'Thinking'  
"dream"  
__**"Speaking**_** telepathically"**

* * *

Letting out a shaky sigh, Charles glanced at the abandoned chess game before leaving the study. As he walked down the hallway to his room, his mind went back to what just happened. He felt as if his whole world had just been tipped upside down and he had no idea how to return it to its current state. Absently, he opened his door and stepped inside his bedroom, letting the door close softly behind him.

His mind was still on his vision, or whatever it was, so he went about his nightly routine on automatic.

'_Can I really trust what they showed me? What if it was all a lie? How do I know for sure?' _and that troubled him more than he liked. He wanted to believe in what he was shown, but he was sceptical. Sure he may be an optimist, but he wasn't a fool either. So how to prove what he was shown was true?

A flash of colour caught his eye and he turned slightly and saw his blue shirt swaying gently in the breeze from the slightly opened window. Absentmindedly, he walked over to close the window, his gaze still on his shirt. _'blue…blue…BLUE! Hank…of course!'_

Letting out a deep breath to relax himself, he focused on the lab where he knew the teen would be. _**"Hank?"**_

Down in the lab, Hank, who was just about to inject the serum into his arm, jumped at the sound of the professor in his head, _**"Professor? Is there something wrong?"**_

"_**I wouldn't say that per se," **_Charles sighed, _**"Hank, by chance are you working on that serum still?"**_

In the lab, Hank glanced down at the syringe in his hands, _**"I've actually finished it. I was about to use it when you interrupted me."**_

Charles' eyes slipped close at the confirmation that the vision was in fact real. And that meant, he had caught Hank in time. _**"Hank, about the serum; I don't think you should take it."**_

Hank frowned, _**"Why not professor? If I'm right about Raven's DNA sequence, then this could be the key to looking normal."**_

"_**Hank, I know what this means to you," **_Charles started, hoping he could convince the young man not to do what he was about to do, _**"but taking this serum will not make everything better. You think it will change your appearance, but what if it's not in the way you want it to?"**_

"_**What do you mean?" **_Hank asked; it was a little unnerving to be talking to someone in his mind, but he trusted the professor and to be honest, he was the only one he'd ever feel comfortable doing this with.

Charles sighed as he wondered how to explain without sounding completely mental. _**"You trust me, don't you Hank?"**_

"_**Of course I do," **_Hank's reply was immediate.

"_**Then trust me when I say that taking this serum will not make things easier on yourself," **_Charles continued gently, _**"Hank, no one in this house cares what your feet looks like. They are your friends because of your personality, and your abilities."**_

"_**You can say that professor because you look normal," **_Hank retorted, _**"You think anyone wants to go out with the guy that has animal feet? No matter who I choose to like, they will always have a problem with my mutation." **_Unbidden, Alex's face flashed across his mind and knowing the professor saw that along with the emotions—confusing as they were—made him flush a little.

Charles for his part was shocked; he had thought that there was something between Hank and his sister. Not once did he think there was something between Hank and Alex. _'Although, if you think about it, it does make sense,' _he thought to himself as he remembered how Alex teased Hank and only Hank.

"_**Hank," **_Charles started, his voice strong as he was determined to not allow the teen to do this, _**"No matter who you like, if they feel the same, they will not care about your mutation. Have you thought of what could happen if you took this?"**_

"_**I'll look normal," **_Hank reiterated, wondering why the professor couldn't understand how important this was, just how much he needed this.

"_**And what if you don't?" **_Charles countered, _**"What if instead of looking normal, your appearance changes even more? Raven's natural form is blue. What if the serum turns you blue? What if it taps into your inner animal and gives you feathers or scales like Raven, or fur? Can you imagine being blue and furry?"**_

Hank fell silent. He had never considered that possibility. _**"But, how am I supposed to cure this?"**_

"_**Maybe you're not supposed to," **_Charles said gently, _**"Hank, I want you to be able to accept your gift, to feel comfortable with your mutation, to see it as a benefit and not a handicap. Look at Alex; before he came here, he was terrified about using his powers because he didn't want to hurt anyone, especially someone he cares about. He hated his mutation because it meant he couldn't get too close to anybody; he was afraid his emotions would get out of control and he'd hurt them, but now, he has control and he's not afraid of it anymore.**_

"_**I know it's not really the same thing, but the concept is the same. Your feet are nothing to be ashamed of. Do you remember the day you beat me at track? That happened because for that moment, you let go of all the insecurities and hang-ups about your feet. Hank, I don't mean to sound cruel, but, how can you ever expect anyone to accept who you are, when you can't accept yourself?"**_

Hank let out a deep sigh as his head fell forward in shame and embarrassment. The professor was right; he hated his mutation, how his feet looked. He wanted to look normal, like everyone else. He's spent his life hiding who he really was that he had no idea of how to let go.

"_**I'm not trying to hurt you Hank. I just want you to be happy," **_Charles said, _**"so please…don't take the serum. Think about it and if you give him a chance, Alex will prove to you that your feet is not a problem."**_

Hank flushed at his words. He didn't think anyone had realized he had feelings for the blond teen. He had thought that his spending all that time with Raven would hide it, but he suppose he was a little silly for trying to hide from a telepath.

Charles laughed, _**"Don't worry; I didn't even know about how you felt about Alex until just now. So no, no one knows, least of all Alex himself."**_

"_**Thanks professor," **_Hank sighed and ran a hand through his hair as he placed the syringe-filled serum on the table, _**"I'll do what you said. I won't take the serum. You were right; I didn't really think things through. I was just excited about finally looking normal."**_

"_**It's alright," **_Charles reassured him, _**"It happens to the best of us."**_

"_**Goodnight professor," **_Hank said softly.

"_**Goodnight Hank," **_Charles replied and then, he closed the connection with a sigh. He changed into his sleepwear and got into bed, snuggling down under the covers. He was glad he was able to help Hank; he just hoped that tomorrow, he would be able to change the outcome to prevent the futures that he was shown from happening.

~…~

The next day, the team headed down to the lab, but was surprised when they didn't find Hank. Charles in particular was worried as he hoped that Hank hadn't changed his mind about the serum.

"He said he'll meet us at the airstrip," Erik said as he looked at the note.

"What's in the box?" Sean asked.

Charles opened it and they all looked in, grinning when they saw the suits while Erik rolled his eyes. They all dressed quickly and then they made their way to the airstrip.

"Where's Hank?" Alex asked as he looked around. He would never admit it out loud, but the teen had grown on him and he worried about him.

Of course that might also have something to do with the way he felt about him, but Alex pushed those thoughts away.

"I don't know," Raven replied, "The note did say he would meet us here."

"There he is," Sean pointed to the figure heading towards them, and Charles found himself holding his breath, only to release it heavily when he saw that Hank was still human looking.

Raven stared at Hank with accusing eyes, "So, did the serum work?" She still didn't forgive for what he told her last night.

Hank looked at Charles before looking at her, "I didn't take it. Not only did I not think things completely through like what other effects it could have on me, but," he threw a barely perceptible glance at Alex, "how can I expect anyone to accept me or my mutation, when I still have trouble accepting it myself? I need to learn how to feel fully comfortable in my own skin."

Raven's eyes softened and she threw a glance at Erik as Hank's words seemed like an echo of the ones he had spoken to her. "So, you're still you?"

"Feet and all," Hank nodded.

"Splendid," Charles said as he clapped Hank on his shoulders and giving him a gentle squeeze. "Let's get going, shall we?"

* * *

**A/N 2: **I hope no one's mad that I didn't make Hank all blue and furry. I think the X-Men films before this one messed up a bit; I'm not too sure, but I remember Hank was still in his human form when he was an adult, but then, in X-Men: The Last Stand, he was blue and furry and he had told the kid with the cure that it was a long time since he'd seen his human skin. Didn't make sense, along with a lot of other things actually, so please, disregard X-Men: The Last Stand. Enough rambling from me…please review.


	5. Beach Scene Revised

**Setting: **X-Men First Class**  
Chapter: 5: **Beach Scene Revised**  
Summary: **The night before everything went to hell, Charles receives a futuristic visitor. What will the visit reveal and will it change anything?

**Chapter Word Count: **3,392

**A/N: **here's the new chapter! I'm glad you guys love the story...enjoy!

**Disclaimer: **X-Men and all its affiliates belong to Marvel and everyone else. No copyright or trademark infringement is intended and no money is being made from this.

**My Disclaimer: **If I owned X-Men; the Beach Divorce never would've happened, Charles and Erik would've been lovers and Hank and Alex would be together and there'd be lots and lots of smut.

"Speaking"  
_'Thinking'  
"dream"  
__**"Speaking telepathically"**_

* * *

Everything happened just like how it he had seen; they had found Shaw's sub and Erik had managed to pull it up, but they had been attacked by Shaw's mutant and just like his vision, Alex had fallen free—the roar that come from Hank had sounded so much like Beast that Charles had known that after today, things would change for the two—but he had been caught by Sean.

Keeping with the vision, they had landed on the beach, and Hank had fought against Azazel, while Sean and Alex dealt with Angel. The one difference, Charles had managed to knock out the mutant known as Riptide, while Raven had used Shaw's form to stop Azazel, allowing Hank to knock the red-skinned mutant out.

Now, Charles was still on their jet with Moira, while keeping a connection with Erik. The two visions played in his mind and he knew he couldn't let either one happen. When his connection with Erik was severed, he nearly screamed out in surprise and shock and despair, but he remembered—at the last minute—that Erik was now in the room with Shaw and he knew that in a moment, he would once again regain the connection. No sooner had that thought completed itself, did he felt Erik's mind.

"_**Erik! I can feel you again." **_He saw through Erik's minds that the walls were lined with mirrors, but not any kind as they were blocking his telepathy. _**"Erik, you need to destroy the wall, or at least damage it enough where I can use my ability freely."**_

"_**Got it," **_Erik replied, grunting as Shaw slammed him into another wall, the force of it cracking the mirror.

"_**It's working," **_Charles breathed, _**"Erik, please be careful."**_

Erik shook his head, to clear the pain and at Charles' words. How could he be careful and still help Charles? Instantly, his mind caught on to metal and he turned his gaze and saw the pipes behind the wall. Searching out the metal, he called it to him and the pipes ripped from the wall and headed towards Shaw, who deflected it behind him, breaking another wall, revealing more pipes to Erik's gaze. Suddenly, an idea formed.

"We could be good together Erik," Shaw said, "this is what I was training you for. You and me, side by side, ruling the world. We are the superior race."

"_**Don't believe him Erik," **_Charles pleaded. He couldn't lose the German, especially not to Shaw.

"You are right, you know?" Erik panted out, "you are my creator and I owe you everything."

Shaw grinned, "I knew you would see it my way."

Erik pulled on the pipes, "Unfortunately for you, you killed my mother and that you must pay for." He directed the pipes towards Shaw's helmet at the same time shouting, "Now Charles!"

Shaw turned at the shout, expecting to see the telepath, but instead, found his helmet flying from his head and as he reached out to grab it, he felt himself froze.

Erik collapsed to his knees, coughing, before slowly getting to his feet. He walked over in front of Shaw and grabbed the man's helmet from the air. He stared into the man's eyes and smirked.

"It's not that I don't trust you Charles," Erik said as he lifted the helmet, "but, this I need to do by myself."

"_**Erik, NO!" **_Charles shouted in his mind.

"I'm sorry," Erik said as he settled the helmet over his head, ending his connection with the telepath. Immediately, he had to take a deep breath as the loss threw him more than he thought. Once he was focused, and stabled, he turned his attention back to Shaw.

~…~

Charles couldn't believe it; Erik had cut him off. He thought he could've changed things, but he hadn't. It was still playing out like the two visions had shown him.

'_No. this can't be the end. I refuse to let that be our future,' _Charles thought furiously. Suddenly he felt an intense and horrible pain in his head and knew that Erik was killing Shaw. He had seen the pain on the other Charles' face when the coin had been pushed through Shaw's forehead and that was one thing he had no intention of fully experiencing. So, he waited until the coin was in just a little further, unaware of the scream escaping his lips, and then, he withdrew his mind from the man's, knowing that it was too late for Shaw to do anything.

He stopped screaming and fell to his knees, panting harshly.

"Charles!" Moira fell to her knees next to him, reaching out to grab his arm, "Are you ok? What happened?"

"Nothing, it's nothing, I'm fine," Charles told her after he managed to overcome the pain. He used her to get to his feet, "Come on."

The two stumbled from the jet, just in time to see Erik floating out of the submarine with Shaw's dead body floating in front of him. Immediately, all the fighting stopped as they watched Shaw's body fall to the ground and Erik lower himself slowly.

Charles pulled away from Moira and made his way to his friend.

"He's dead," Erik said when Charles was close.

"I know," Charles nodded, "we have to get out of here."

Erik opened his mouth to say something, but instead, it snapped shut as his eyes widened and his gaze moved from the telepath to the ships in the water. He could feel the metal of the guns turning towards them and suddenly, anger filled him. After what they just did, the humans had done exactly what he had said they would do; they turned on them.

"Erik?" Charles called when he saw the realization and the anger in the man's eyes. "What is it?"

"They turned on us Charles!" Erik said. "I can feel their guns moving in the water, turning towards us."

Realization filled Charles and his eyes widened. "Erik."

"Don't try to stop me Charles," Erik growled, "I told you! I told you they would turn on us and they did! Read their minds and tell me I'm wrong. Tell me they are not preparing to fire on us?"

At his words, Raven and the others gasped in shock and exchanged looks.

Charles didn't have to raise a hand to his temple to know that Erik was right, but he did it anyway.

"Charles?" Raven questioned as she and the guys came closer.

"It's true," Charles told her.

Moira let out gasp and turned to head back to the jet.

"It won't work," Charles called after her, but she didn't stop and he didn't pay any more attention. What he cared about was Erik and what he was about to do. "Please don't."

"Don't what?" Erik snapped, "protect us? You can't ask me to do that Charles. I will do anything and everything I can to protect you, and them."

The words warmed Charles' heart and he would've smiled, except, the ships had finally decide to fire their missiles.

"Oh God!" Sean gasped, his eyes wide with fright as he took in the missiles heading towards them. Hank and Alex stood next to him, supporting him and both boys were tense.

"We played by their rules," Erik said as he started forward, "not anymore." He stopped a distance away, almost close to the shore and raised his hands, seeking out the metal in the missiles. When he caught it, he grabbed hold and immediately, the missiles stopped in mid-air before turning slowly, reversing their direction.

On the beach, the other mutants, including Shaw's own, stared at Erik in awe.

"Erik, don't do it," Charles warned as he looked from Erik to the missiles. He knew exactly how this had played out and he knew that he had to change it, but he had no idea how.

"You cannot kill them Erik!" Moira yelled as she ran towards them. "They don't deserve this!"

"And why not?" Erik asked calmly, though inside, he was feeling anything but.

"Because they are good men!" Moira said fiercely, "honest men, who are just following orders!"

'_Oh shit…Moira…,' _Charles groaned mentally. If there was one thing not to say to Erik, it was that. The Charles from the first vision had said those words and things had gone to hell. _'What can I do? How can I change that from becoming our reality?' _

"I've been at the mercy of men just following orders," Erik glared at Moira, "Never again."

Charles jolted of his thoughts just in time to hear Erik's words and as Erik was about to release the missiles, he ran over to the German.

"Don't…please," Charles begged.

"Give me one reason why I shouldn't?" Erik looked down at the shorter man, almost getting lost in the blue eyes he loved so much.

Suddenly, the person's words came back to Charles;

…_you and Erik belong together…_

And suddenly, he knew what to do. Moving closer to Erik, leaving just an inch of space between them, he looked up at the man he loved, "because of this."

And he kissed him.

Erik froze when he felt the lips against his own, not believing that it was real and in the air, some of the frozen missiles destructed or fell to the ocean, as he kissed Charles back.

Charles wrapped his arms around Erik's neck as he deepened the kiss. He was beyond ecstatic that Erik was kissing him back and he felt as if his heart would burst. His hands moved up to tangle in the man's hair, but found his task blocked by the helmet and that caused him to break the kiss.

"Charles?" Erik questioned, hoping the brunet didn't regret the kiss or maybe he'd explain why he did it.

Charles looked up at the helmet, before looking back at Erik, "Can I?"

Erik nodded, unable to deny him, and couldn't help but to hold his breath briefly as he felt the helmet lift off his head and heard the soft thud it made as Charles dropped it to the ground.

"_**Erik," **_Charles opened the connection between the two of them. _**"I couldn't let you kill them. Shaw deserved it and you got your revenge, but I cannot allow those soldiers' blood to be on your hands or their deaths on your soul."**_

"_**So that kiss was just a distraction?" **_Erik asked, anger and sadness filling his words and his mind.

"_**No," **_Charles gave a mental head shake, _**"That kiss happened because I love you. I think I did the night I pulled you out of the water, the first time I touched your mind and the more time we spent together, the more I fell for you. I never said anything because I wasn't sure if you would've returned my feelings or not."**_

"_**I never thought you'd feel the same," **_Erik admitted, joy rushing through him at the telepath's words.

"_**I do," **_Charles nodded, _**"Erik, you cannot let those missiles destroy those ships. I know they fired on us, and I know they would deserve it, but I can't let you do it."**_

"_**And why not?" **_Erik's eyes narrowed at the shorter man. _**"If we do not strike back now, they will attack us later. We are the superior race Charles, and they should know it. They should know that we do not fear them."**_

"_**So what do you want to do?" **_Charles bit his lip, _**"Attack every human? Do you think they all deserve to die? What you are planning, is exactly what the Nazis did and it's what Shaw wanted to do as well."**_

"_**I am nothing like them!" **_Erik vehemently replied.

"_**No?" **_Charles countered, _**"You want to destroy humans; you believe we are superior and they are beneath us, that they should bow to us. Tell me that do not sound just like what they Nazis had done to the Jews, or what Shaw had planned to do? It's genocide Erik, and I cannot allow you to do it."**_

"_**The humans don't deserve any chances," **_Erik defended his point, but if you listened closely, you could tell that he was starting to waver.

"_**Not all humans are bad," **_Charles countered, _**"The Nazis were horrible, but look at everything Shaw did, and he was a mutant. And if that doesn't convince you, then maybe this will."**_

Charles took a deep breath because he knew that his words would not be what Erik wanted to hear. _**"I didn't get it before, but I do now. Killing Shaw was never really about you. It was about your mother and what he did to her."**_

The anger rolling through the metalkinetic's mind at the mention of his mother had Charles wincing, but he didn't let it stop him. If this was the only way to convince Erik not to head down the dark path, then he would do it.

"_**But it seems you have forgotten one very important thing," **_Charles continued, _**"Your mother was human. For you to condemn all humans, it means you are condemning her as well."**_

Erik froze at those words. He had never thought of it like that. He had spent most of his adult life burying his memories of his mother until he barely remembered her.

"_**What would she think if she knew what you planned to do?" **_Charles asked, _**"Do you think she would be happy? Do you think she would want her son to go down the path you are about to travel? Please don't do this Erik. Do not let Shaw win. Do not let the humans be proven right. You've said it yourself, we are the better men. Prove it; let them go. Let them know how close they came to losing everything, but please, don't kill them."**_

Charles leaned up and kissed Erik again, _**"Shaw never wanted a weapon—he wanted an heir, he wanted someone to replace him and he tried to forge it through you. If you do this, you will succeed where he failed. Please…I do not want to lose you, but if you do this…I will. I love you Erik Lehnsherr."**_

This time, Erik broke the kiss and stared down at the brunet. The telepath's words echoed in his mind, but along with it, he could hear Shaw's voice demanding that he do this; that he continued where he left off.

His gaze moved from Charles and settled on the remaining missiles in the air. He knew he should destroy them; it was what he was taught, what he learned; take out your opponent before they got the chance to take you out. But, was it worth losing Charles? The last few months had been the happiest he'd ever been since his mother died. He had found a friend and equal in the blue-eyed man, and had come to—albeit reluctantly—truly care for the teens that were under their care.

His need for revenge was what had driven him most his life until he had met Charles. Suddenly, his revenge didn't seem all that important. Yes, he had still wanted Shaw dead, but it seemed as if that had taken a backseat to being with Charles. He could've left at any time, but he didn't. He had chosen to stay, because being with Charles had overridden any feelings of revenge. So why couldn't he do it now? What was so different?

Hearing Charles accuse him of becoming just like Shaw and the Nazis had been a blow; he never wanted to be either because he never wanted anyone to go through the hell that he went through under their care. Didn't Charles understand that he was just trying to protect him?

"I know love," Charles said out loud, causing Erik to look at him. "And I understand, completely, but if you do this, then you really will be just like them."

Erik wrapped an arm around Charles' waist and pulled the man in close until they were touching, "I don't want to be them, but I cannot allow you to be hurt either."

"I won't be," Charles assured him. "Just please, drop the missiles, and leave the soldiers alone. You and I, we belong together. We're supposed to be side by side, equals. We want the same thing Erik; we want a place where mutants can feel safe, where they won't be persecuted because of their ability and where they won't hate who they are or whatever physical differences their mutation has caused. And we can have that, but it cannot start with what you're about to do. Let them go Erik. Show them that we _are_ the better men."

Grey-green eyes locked on to blue, as Erik searched Charles' eyes, hoping to find whatever it was he was looking. When he did, his eyes lightened and he gave a barely perceptible nod. He looked back at the missiles and sighed.

Charles, needing so badly to convince Erik not to kill the soldiers, had forgotten about the one other scene that he had needed to change; Moira.

Erik was so focused on the missiles and Charles, that he never registered the metal of Moira's gun, and he didn't hear when she had cocked the gun—although, he wouldn't have heard anyways, as she had done it while she was still in the jet. Just as he was about to close his fist to destroy the remaining missiles, he heard the gun go off and turned around immediately, at the same time pushing Charles behind him.

He saw the bullet coming towards him and for some reason, he remembered just a day or two ago when he had wanted Charles to shoot him because he knew he would've been able to stop the bullet in time. He held up his hand, removing his control from the missiles in the air, allowing them to self-destruct, as he concentrated on stopping the bullets.

"Moira! Don't! Stop!" Charles shouted as he tried to pass Erik, but the German wouldn't allow him to move.

Moira didn't stop. She just kept shooting, making sure to keep her mind blank, not wanting Charles to read her intentions.

Erik wanted to move or at least turn the bullets, but in all honesty, his body was close to shutting down from the fight with Shaw and he knew, that he had at least one or two broken ribs, the rest bruised and some internal bleeding. He couldn't move and he couldn't deflect because he might hit Charles of one of the teens. So, he searched for the metal of the gun, and just as he caught it, he crushed it, but not before Moira fired off her last bullet, one he couldn't feel.

The thought echoed in his mind and Charles caught it.

Horrified, the telepath did the only he could, he tackled Erik to the ground at the same time reaching out with his telepathy and forcing everyone else down as well.

"Is everyone alright?" Charles shouted as he leaned over Erik.

"We're fine," Raven replied as she quickly got to her knees and hurried over to them.

Charles got his feet and turned to Moira, giving her such a glare that she scrambled backwards.

"C-Charles," Erik panted out, catching the telepath's attention.

Charles looked down and his eyes went wide in shock when he saw the blood leaking from Erik's mouth, "You're hurt!"

Erik chuckled painfully, "Yes, that would be the result after being slammed around like a doll."

Charles turned to Azazel, "I need you to get us out of here and take us to a hospital. After that, if you want to leave, all three of you, I won't stop you. But if you have nowhere else to go, I won't turn you away, just as long as you realize that you cannot attack anyone."

Azazel, Janos and Angel exchanged looks before the red-skinned mutant nodded and stepped forward. "I vill help, and then, ve vill go."

"I understand," Charles nodded. He looked back at Erik, "hang on. We're going to get you help." He looked at Hank, "Hank, grab that helmet. We cannot allow the humans to get their hands on it. Everyone, let's go."

After doing what he was asked, Hank joined the group, as did Moira, though she did so reluctantly, and they all teleported from the beach.

**A/N 2: **like I could honestly allow those two to be apart. I hated the fact that Erik and Raven left Charles lying on the beach after he was shot. I don't care how different they were, I don't believe Raven would've left her brother lying there injured and Erik wouldn't have left Charles either, so, I fixed it. Hope you enjoyed it!


	6. Clearing the Air

**Setting: **X-Men First Class**  
Chapter: :  
Summary: **The night before everything went to hell, Charles receives a futuristic visitor. What will the visit reveal and will it change anything?

**Chapter Word Count: **4,725

**A/N: **here's the new chapter…enjoy! Hope you guys like it. thanks to everyone that has read and reviewed and love this…

**Disclaimer: **X-Men and all its affiliates belong to Marvel and everyone else. No copyright or trademark infringement is intended and no money is being made from this.

**My Disclaimer: **If I owned X-Men; the Beach Divorce never would've happened, Charles and Erik would've been lovers and Hank and Alex would be together and there'd be lots and lots of smut.

* * *

"Speaking"  
_'Thinking'  
__**"Speaking**** telepathically"**_

* * *

They appeared at a hospital in New York, the closest one to Westchester. After dropping them off in an alleyway, Azazel teleported out with Angel and Janos, leaving the X-group to fend for themselves.

Immediately, Raven shifted into her blond form and with Charles holding on to Erik and Hank holding up Alex, the group stumbled out and made their way to the entrance.

"WE NEED A DOCTOR!" Sean bellowed, gaining the attention of everyone on the floor.

Taking in the group, nurses rushed towards them.

"What happened?" a nurse asked as she checked Erik's vitals.

As Hank explained, Charles caught the questioning looks from the other nurses and other people on the floor and barely thinking about what he was doing, he entered their minds and saw that they were all curious as to why the group was dressed the way they were. It was easy enough to make everyone on the floor and everyone that would come to the floor think of seeing them in regular clothes and not the uniforms.

When the nurses and doctor had rushed Erik through the double doors towards one of the emergency rooms, the team all found chairs to collapse into.

Charles stayed standing, his body still turned to where the doctors had disappeared with Erik.

"Charles?" Moira took a tentative step towards the telepath.

Hearing his name, Charles turned around slowly, his blue eyes darkening with rage as his gaze landed on the CIA agent.

Having never seen such a look on the telepath's face, Moira flinched and took a step back.

"What the hell were you thinking?" Charles hissed, eyes flashing dangerously as he stalked towards the woman.

"Charles," Moira began to defend her actions, knowing she was treading dangerous ground.

"You shot at Erik!" Charles cut her off. He didn't want to hear whatever excuses she was going to come up with.

Raven, Hank, Sean and Alex watched with narrowed eyes. All four of them were angry as well with the woman.

"I had no choice!" Moira shot back, "He was out of control. He was going to kill them and single-handedly start a war and I couldn't let that happen."

Charles' eyes darkened even further and gasps of pain echoed from everyone as they felt the pressure in their heads.

"You _couldn't _let that happen?" Charles hissed, "How dare you? I had it under control! He had let them go!"

Moira, who had closed her eyes and grabbed her head to block the mental backlash from Charles, opened her eyes and guilt flashed through them. A memory flashed to the forefront but she pushed it away quickly knowing that if Charles saw it, all hell would break loose.

It wasn't quick enough.

Charles caught the memory just before Moira could dismiss it and with no qualms, he entered her mind and immersed himself within the memory. What he saw had him shaking with rage and as he pulled back out of her mind, he was barely aware that his telepath was leaking to everyone.

"Oh!" Raven cried as she grabbed her head in her hands, but she wasn't the only one.

"What's happening?" Sean asked as he collapsed to the ground, holding his head between both hands.

Alex reached out and grabbed Hank's hand and the scientist flipped his palm up to tangle their fingers together.

"You bitch!" Charles glared at Moira as he took slow and measured steps to the woman, his powers forcing her to her knees. "You planned it all along! How _dare _you?!"

Moira's mouth fell open in a scream though no sound escaped. The pain in her head was nothing like she'd ever felt before. It was as if her mind was being ripped viciously apart with thousands of jagged knives.

"Charles!" Raven moaned as she tried to crawl to her brother. She had to get him to calm down before he killed everyone. If she had had any doubts how he felt about Erik, this put them all to rest. She's never seen her brother like this. The last time he had even come close to being this enraged was when they were kids, just two years after finding each other and an older kid had tried to bully her.

Gasping, Raven managed to get to Charles, ignoring Moira who was on the ground next to her.

"Charles," Raven took a deep breath and grabbed his face so that his eyes were on hers. She saw that they were unfocused and periodically, blue would flash through the darkened orbs. It scared her, but she was determined. "Charles…stop it…_please_…calm your mind…"

She repeated her plea until she felt the pressure in her head start to decrease. She didn't stop until her brother's eyes were the normal sky blue and that scary look was gone from them.

"It's ok," Raven said softly as she locked her eyes with his.

"No," Charles shook his head and glared down at Moira, "It's not." He bent down and stared into the CIA agent's eyes and he whispered harshly, "I could and should make you regret the day you ever _heard _my name, but I won't."

Easily, he slipped into her mind and rearranged her memories—he removed the address of the mansion, changed what had happened on the Cuban beach and all knowledge of her being at the hospital or the extent of his powers.

Moira lay unconscious on the ground and Charles stared at her with impassive eyes. Without thought, his mind searched out and latched on to Azazel's, pulling the teleporter to him.

Black smoke and the smell of sulphur filled the room as Azazel flashed in the room, startling the other mutants.

Charles didn't even move his eyes from Moira's form, "Get…her…out of here." He pushed Moira's address in the teleporter's head.

Azazel nodded and disappeared with the woman.

Charles then turned to room and removed the memory of the last few minutes from the minds of all who had been aware of what was going on. When he was done, he stood still breathing heavily.

"What happened Charles?" Raven asked after she was sure her brother had calmed down considerably.

"Not here," Charles answered. His words had a final tone to it and they all nodded, but each of them knew that things had changed and whatever happened next, it would be faced together.

Closing his eyes, Charles turned away and walked over towards the wall. Leaning against it, he cast his eyes towards the double as his mind sought out Erik's. He got nothing and had to remind himself that Erik was unconscious, not dead, to not have a freak out.

"Charles?" Raven walked over to her brother.

The brunet turned towards her.

"He's going to be ok," Raven said as she reached out and touched his shoulder.

Charles stared at her for a few seconds, "I thought I was the mind reader?"

"You are," Raven grinned, "but you forget, I've known you for almost twenty years now."

Charles chuckled before casting his gaze towards the boys, "Are you boys ok?"

"Just a little banged up professor," Sean answered as he shifted in his seat, "but we're ok."

"Same here," Hank replied softly as Alex gave a nod.

"Good," Charles sighed, "having Erik hurt is more than enough." His gaze shifted once more to the double doors and he prayed everything was ok. He had no idea what he would if he lost Erik.

~…~

Hours later, a doctor came out.

"Family for Max Xavier?" the doctor called out.

While the teens looked confused, Charles stood up from his seat and walked over to the man.

"How is he?" Charles asked.

"He's stable," the doctor answered, "there was some internal bleeding, but we managed to stop it. He suffered a couple of broken ribs, but luckily they didn't puncture any organs."

"So he's ok?" Charles breathed out, staring intently at the doctor.

"Yes," the doctor answered, "his ribs are bandaged, but for them to heal properly he's going to have to follow a set of rules; no heavy lifting, not too much movement, nothing strenuous, basically, he has to avoid putting pressure on them."

"Got it," Charles nodded, "so we can take him home?"

The doctor frowned, "I don't think that's a good idea. I would prefer he stays here for a few days at least so that we can monitor him."

Charles said nothing, he just stared at the man. _**"You're going to change your mind. Max is going to be released with careful instructions. You're going to forget about your misgivings about releasing him."**_

The doctor shook his head, "Mr. Xavier is free to go home, provided he adheres to my instruction and gets plenty of rest. We want those ribs to heal."

"I'll make sure of it," Charles nodded, "When we can see him?"

"He's getting cleaned up now and he'll be down in his room in a few minutes," the doctor said, "When he wakes, he'll be free to go."

"Thank you," Charles said as he turned to the teens, "let's go."

The group followed the doctor to Erik's room and neither of them said anything as they waited for their friend.

Half an hour later, Erik was wheeled into the room and Charles was immediately by his side.

"I'm here," the brunet whispered as he held one of Erik's hands in his own, "I'm here."

The teens crowded around the metal-bender's bed, each of them thankful he was ok.

~…~

A few days later, they were all back at the mansion. The teens were downstairs watching TV, while Erik and Charles were in Charles' bedroom, with the German lying on the bed, and Charles sitting in the chair next to the bed.

"How are you feeling?" Charles asked as he looked over Erik.

"_**Why don't you see and find out?" **_Erik projected mentally.

Charles bit his lip, "I wasn't sure you'd want me to."

Erik rolled his eyes, "Charles, you've been in my head since the night we met, more so over these last few days, I think by now you'd know if I didn't want you not to be." He looked at the brunet, grey-green eyes almost searing through the blue, "What's really going on Charles?"

"What do you mean?" Charles asked even as he looked away. He forgot how well the taller man knew him.

"What I mean is," Erik explained, "ever since that day at the Cuban beach, you've had this look about you. What made you change your mind that day? Why did you admit how you felt about me?"

"Did you not want me to?" Charles raised an eyebrow.

"I didn't mind," Erik shook his head, "but the timing could've been better. Why then? Why did you choose that specific moment?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," Charles sighed, wondering how he was going to explain everything to the German.

"Try me," Erik reached out a hand towards the telepath, wincing slightly as he felt his ribs protest the movement.

Charles reached out a grabbed the offered hand and let out a deep and heavy sigh, "I think it would be better if I showed you."

And he did; he showed him everything. When it was over, he stared at the man he loved, wondering what he was thinking and wanting to see, but respecting and loving him too much to enter his mind right now.

"Wow," Erik said after a while. He had no idea what to make of what he had just seen. He stayed silent as his mind processed the images.

Charles let him.

"So," Erik said after a while, "if you hadn't stopped me, my actions would've resulted in your death and I would've become the very person I wanted to kill."

Charles hated seeing that look of devastation on Erik's face. Quickly, he moved to join the German on the bed and snuggled into his side, "But that's not going to happen Erik. For some reason we were given a glimpse of what our future looked like; we were given the chance to change it and we did."

"I've done a lot of things in my life Charles," Erik looked down at the man in his arms, "things that I've never regretted, but hurting you would be the only thing that I could and would regret."

"But you didn't," Charles moved from Erik's arms and shifted to his knees so that he could face him, "you haven't hurt me and you're not going to. The fact that you're here with me right now, shows that we are _not_ going to live the future that you just saw."

Charles leaned close and cupped Erik's cheeks, staring into the grey-green eyes he loved, "I love you and you love me. We have the chance now to build a better future for both of us; one that we _both _deserve."

"What am I supposed to do now Charles?" Erik asked, "My whole life has been about revenge and making Shaw pay for what he did. I thrived on that anger and purpose for so long."

"I know," Charles nodded. He closed the distance and kissed Erik briefly. "But I told you once before, there's so much more to you than pain and anger. We can do this Erik. I want you by my side. I want to be by _your _side. Always."

He took a deep breath as he prepared himself to admit what he was about to. It was somewhat hard as he had always been proud, or was it arrogant like he had been accused and shown he was? "When I suggested that we die so that the humans would appreciate what we did for them, I was wrong; I was so wrong. You were right in that aspect Erik, but so was I when I told you that we can't go to war with them. Right now, it's just us; you, me and the teens. We wouldn't have won. I'm not saying a war will or won't happen, but at least now, we'd have a fighting chance with both of us on the same side."

Erik searched the blue eyes he loved so much. Ever since he had met the shorter man, without even realizing it, he had started to change. Suddenly his life wasn't about finding Shaw and he had found himself starting to fall for the brunet the more time he spent with him. But he had always thought happiness was never an option for him. Shaw had drilled that into his head when he was a teen and he had spent his life chasing the man that had wronged him; doing things that left a stain on him and he knew that he didn't deserve any happiness, which is probably why he had made the decisions he had.

He knew that Charles wouldn't have it in him to watch someone else be murdered, whether it was self-defence or not and he had been counting on that. Subconsciously, he had sought a way to end whatever was happening between them before it even started.

But now, now he had another chance. For the first time since he was a boy, he found someone that meant a lot to him; someone he would do anything for. For the first time, he was a part of something else, something that was good. But did he deserve it?

Looking into Charles' eyes he saw that yes, he did deserve it and even if _he _didn't think so, Charles would not stop until it was something he accepted.

"So," Erik said at last, "a school, huh?"

The smile that took over Charles' face was blinding and it sent Erik's heart racing and warmth through him knowing that he was the cause of it.

"I love you," Charles said as he kissed Erik. "And we will make this work."

"I believe you Charles," Erik whispered as he wrapped an arm around the shorter man, pulling him into his body, mindful of his bandaged ribs. "I believe you."

~…~

Later that night, after dinner was over and the dishes had been cleaned up, the group was sitting in the living room.

Charles and Erik were on one sofa while the teens sat across from them with Raven and Hank sitting on the sofa and Sean and Alex in the floor, the latter leaning against Hank's legs.

"So," Raven stared at her brother, "what really happened with Moira? You said you would explain when we were in private."

Charles' eyes narrowed and his hand clenched into fists as he thought back to the woman.

"_**Calm yourself," **_Erik said mentally even as he reached out hand and placed it on the telepath's clenched fist.

Taking a few deep breaths, Charles pushed back the anger, "She was going to kill Erik."

"What?!" Sean's eyes went wide, but he wasn't the only one.

"What do you mean?" Alex asked.

"Ever since the night we met Erik," Charles explained, "The CIA officials feared him—him and his power. General Stryker especially felt that way. So he and Moira came up with a plan. No matter what happened, Erik was to be taken out."

"How exactly did they expect to do that?" Hank piped up, "Erik controls metal, not only would he feel the bullets, he would be able to stop it."

Erik shook his head, "No…I couldn't." he remembered the last bullet that Moira had fired, the one that would've hit had Charles not pushed him out of the way.

The teens were confused as to what he meant.

Seeing the looks on their faces, Charles chuckled humourlessly, "They found a way around that. Moira's gun might have been metal, but not all of her bullets were."

His words sank in and the teens' faces paled from horror.

"The CIA considered Erik too dangerous to live," Charles continued, "No matter what would've happened with Shaw, they hadn't intended for Erik to walk away."

"And Moira was in on it?" Raven gasped, "That bitch!"

"We trusted her!" Alex glared down at the rug, his hands balled tightly. He could feel his power rising within him and he desperately tried to calm down, but he couldn't. All he could see was Moira, someone they had trusted, turning against them, against Erik. Sure the man was creepy and somewhat psychotic, but, Alex had found himself relating more with the German than with their lovable professor.

For the first time in a long time, he had a home and it had all been threatened not by Shaw, but by Moira.

His heart rate increased and he could feel the energy bursts that were threatening to get out and he closed his eyes to force his power down.

Seconds later he could feel it working and was startled to realize that someone was gently running their hand through his hair. He knew who it was but said nothing; he just allowed his body to relax back into Hank's legs and allowed the ministrations to continue, not even questioning why Hank had been able to calm him down so quickly.

"Professor," Sean spoke up hesitantly, "What did you do to her?"

At the question, everyone—Erik not included—perked up.

"I fixed her memories," Charles' eyes narrowed dangerously and he hissed when he spoke, "as far as Moira is concerned, everything happened as it should've; Erik got shot and as far as she knows, he died from his wounds. She has no memory of us being at the hospital, or where the mansion is located or how we even got off the beach. She'll think she hit her head and suffered some memory loss because of it."

"Good," Raven nodded as she folded her arms.

"She's lucky that's all I did to her," Charles remarked, his voice cold, causing the boys to shiver and Raven to gulp. When he noticed the reactions of the teens, he sighed, "I disliked doing it, but I was left with no choice. What Moira did, she betrayed us and while I am a person who believes in forgiveness and not following the path of revenge, I couldn't allow her to get away with it either."

The teens exchanged looks.

"So what now?" Sean asked.

Charles looked at Erik, "We decided to turn open a school; to turn this place into a sanctuary for other mutants where they can feel safe and use their mutation without fear of being harmed; a place where mutants can be accepted for who they are and what they can do, or even how they look."

At his words, Hank looked away and Raven tensed.

Easily picking the surface thoughts from his sister's mind, Charles sighed, "Raven, I need to tell you something, something that's been long overdue."

Raven stared at her brother warily, suddenly remembering their argument a week ago.

"Hank was right when he said that people would never find your blue form beautiful," Charles said.

Hank shifted guiltily on the sofa when Erik, Alex and Sean stared at him.

Raven's eyes flashed with anger and pain and betrayal flashed across her face. She couldn't believe her brother had just said that to her.

"Let me finish Raven," Charles said when he saw her move to get up.

"Why?" Raven snapped, "You've already made your feelings very clear."

"There's more to it," Charles' tone of voice was firm, something the others had rarely ever heard from him. "Let me finish."

Raven stared at her brother, half of her wanting to storm out, but the other half wanting to hear him say he was sorry and that he didn't mean it. It was that part that won out and had her sitting back on the sofa.

"As I was saying," Charles continued, "Hank was right; other people wouldn't find your blue form beautiful, but that doesn't mean that we don't—that _I _don't."

Raven's betrayal disappeared as did most of her anger, but hurt was still prominent, "then why did you have me take this form when we were younger? If you weren't disgusted by my natural form, then why'd you make me shift all the time?"

"To protect you," Charles said and then he sighed, running a hand through his hair.

"What?" Raven fell back against the sofa in shock and confusion.

"You remember what your life was like before you came to me?" Charles asked.

Raven nodded. Her life before Charles had been completely horrible. She could remember the looks she got from other people; the way she was chased and stoned in the streets, the way her own parents had abandoned her.

"What do you think would've happened had anyone found out that you were really blue?" Charles asked. "They would've taken you away from me. You would've been killed or worse. Keeping you in that blonde form was the only to make sure that didn't happen. I couldn't lose you Raven. And I'm sorry I made you feel as if your natural form was disgusting. It's not. I've never thought that. On the contrary, I find it quite beautiful and fascinating."

Tears filled Raven's eyes and spilled over, running down her cheeks, but she didn't pay any attention to them, "Why didn't you ever tell me this? Do you know what it did to me to think that my own brother hated the very sight of me?"

"I am so sorry," Charles repeated. He hated himself for putting that pain in her voice. "Please believe me when I say I never meant to make you feel that way."

"So you don't hate me?" Raven asked softly, sounding very much like a scared little girl.

"Never," Charles shook his head, "you're my baby sister. Nothing and no one in this world and nothing you could ever do would make me hate you."

Raven closed her eyes and let out a shaky breath as she shifted back to her natural form. She kept her eyes closed as her skin rippled and her hair shortened. The whole thing took seconds but, to Raven, it felt like a lifetime. She felt hands on her cheek and she opened her eyes and found herself staring into bright blue eyes.

"You're beautiful," Charles whispered with a smile, "never doubt that." he pressed a kiss to her cheek and then moved back to sit next to Erik.

Raven let out a small laugh. She felt as if a weight had been lifted off of her and in a way, it had. For the longest time, her insecurities had stemmed from the fear that the one person she depended on the most hated her natural form, but she had been wrong.

"I'm sorry," Hank said quietly, though his words still caught everyone's attention.

"Hank," Raven started.

"No," Hank cut her off, "I was wrong Raven; so wrong. I didn't think things through. It's just-I was so excited about finally finding a way to look normal that I hurt you. But I meant what I said that day in the hangar. I need to start accepting who I am for myself before I can expect anyone else to."

"I don't see why you had a problem in the first place," Alex snorted, "You're a freaking genius and you look good for a nerd."

Since Alex was sitting in front of Hank, he didn't see the way the teen's cheeks flushed red, but Raven, Erik and Charles did.

"How are we going to turn this place into a school?" Sean asked, looking between both of his mentors. "I mean, don't we need like permission or licenses or whatever?"

"And how are we going to find the mutants?" Hank asked, "It's not as if we can go back to the CIA and ask to use their machine."

Charles grinned as he leaned into Erik's side, "You built Cerebro, didn't you?"

"Yeah," Hank nodded.

"Safe to say you can build it again," Charles said.

"But, the CIA, don't they have the original Cerebro and its blueprints?" Alex asked.

At the question, Erik grinned and it was predatory that Sean bit his lip to suppress a whimper and Hank and Alex leaned back away from him while Raven shifted, feeling like prey.

"Erik made sure there was nothing left of the original Cerebro for them to use," Charles told them smugly, "and they can't rebuild it if there's no blueprints, now can they?"

"Wait, when did you have time to destroy Cerebro?" Raven asked, staring at the German in suspicion, "You were with Charles always."

"The day we came back from Russia and learned that Shaw had attacked the compound," Erik revealed, "We knew we couldn't stay there, and I knew there was no way that machine could be left in their hands, especially not when they had Emma."

"Even if we do rebuild it," Hank spoke up, "Where's it going to go? Cerebro is a big machine and I think people would notice a giant golf ball outside."

Here, Charles grinned, "I already have an idea in mind. So, are you in?"

"Yes," Hank and Raven replied immediately.

"This is my home," Alex shrugged with a casualness that he didn't really feel, "If we're turning it into a place where other mutants can learn how to control their power and not be afraid of it, then I'm not going anywhere."

Sean bit his lip, "for the first time, I'm not the loser or the loner. I'm actually accepted here and, I want to help, especially if other mutants came from homes like mine where even though they had a family, they still felt like an outcast."

Charles turned to the final person in the group. "Erik?"

Erik looked at the teens before shifting his gaze to the brunet next to him. _**"I told you; by your side is where I want to be…always. I don't know if I deserve this life that you're determined I get, but, I'm not going to fight it, or you. As long as you want me, here is where I'll be."**_

Charles couldn't stop the beaming smile that stretched his lips and he had to refrain himself from jumping Erik. _**"Well then, be prepared to always be here because I'll always want you."**_

He turned back to the teens, "Excellent. Now that that's settled, let's get started."

* * *

**A/N 2: **that's the chapter. Remember to review...


	7. Moving Forward

**Setting: **X-Men First Class**  
Chapter: 7: **Moving Forward  
**Summary: **The night before everything went to hell, Charles receives a futuristic visitor. What will the visit reveal and will it change anything?

**Chapter Word Count: **10,440

**A/N: **so this has been a long time due. So sorry for that, but it's here now, so…enjoy! Thanks to everyone who's still interested in seeing where this goes.

**Disclaimer: **X-Men and all its affiliates belong to Marvel and everyone else. No copyright or trademark infringement is intended and no money is being made from this.

**My Disclaimer: **If I owned X-Men; the Beach Divorce never would've happened, Charles and Erik would've been lovers and Hank and Alex would be together and there'd be lots and lots of smut.

"Speaking"  
_'Thinking'  
__**'Speaking telepathically'**_

* * *

Because of Erik's injuries, they hadn't started on any actual construction of the new Cerebro. Instead, Charles had taken the next few weeks to show Hank where exactly Cerebro would go, he had gone into the city to acquire the desired permissions to turn the mansion into school. It was very easy to slip into the minds of those who gave them trouble and made them see his side of things and to also make sure no one would who would be a harm to them would find the school.

It wasn't as if the school would be made public. No. it would be a private boarding school for mutants. Of course if there were humans out there who wanted to attend, or teach, and had no trouble whatsoever with mutants and who wouldn't betray them in a heartbeat, then they would be welcomed.

So, the permissions, and equipment and everything else they needed were gathered under a false name and he had every intention of shifting the memories once he was done.

Before The Beach Incident—as the kids had taken to calling it in their minds and among the four of them, and yes that was with capital letters—he would've balked at using his powers that way, but what Moira, and not only her, the CIA and Stryker as well, had planned to do had changed him even more than that visit from the mysterious person had.

For the first time in his life he had found someone to love, someone that understood him on all levels and they had tried to take it from him. He's always been the passive type, the type to let things go, but no more because he knew that if anyone dared to hurt Erik, or one of the teens, he would not hesitate to hurt them back.

"And what are you thinking so hard about _maus_?" Erik asked as he walked into the kitchen, seeing Charles leaning against the counter looking off into space.

Charles jumped slightly and turned to look at the man he loved. "Erik! I didn't hear you come up."

"Because you were miles away," Erik replied as he crossed the room to stand next to the telepath. "Where were you?"

"Just thinking about our next step," Charles said as he shifted closer to the taller man.

"My ribs are healed now," Erik said, "so there is no excuse as to why we can't start on building your Cerebro."

Charles ran his eyes over Erik's form as he reached out a hand to rest on the man's stomach. He pressed gently on his ribs, and hummed to himself when the metal manipulator didn't even flinch. He lifted his gaze, blue locking on to pale green, and smiled, "I think that's an excellent idea."

Erik couldn't help but to smile in return and without even thinking, he leaned down and pressed his lips against Charles'.

Charles hummed and shifted closer, wrapping his arms around the German's neck as he opened his mouth to deepened the kiss.

"Aww jeez!" Raven exclaimed as she walked into the kitchen. She quickly covered her eyes because there were just some things that a sister shouldn't see and walking in on your brother making out with his boyfriend is one of them.

"I'm pretty sure you guys have a room," Raven mumbled, eyes still covered.

Charles and Erik pulled apart and the telepath blushed as he turned to face his sister. "You can look now."

"You sure?" Raven questioned but dropped her hand and stared at the two of them, "You do know that we eat here, right?"

Erik tilted his head to the side slightly, "It's not as if we were doing anything particular obscene."

"Not yet," Raven snorted as she walked over to the two of them, "So what's on the agenda for today?"

"Now that Erik's pretty much healed," Charles said, "we figured we'd get started on building Cerebro."

"Actually," Erik frowned, "I do believe there is something else more pressing that needs to be taken care of."

"What's that?" Charles turned to look at his lover.

"Emma," Erik said, "You know as well as I do Charles that we cannot leave her in their hands. She's vindictive enough to help them and the last we need is her on their side."

"He's right," Raven looked between the two men, "She's too dangerous Charles."

Charles sighed, "I know. However, since it's not just us, we need to make a discussion with all of us. **Boys…can you come to the kitchen please?"**

~…~

"What are you doing?" Alex asked as he stood in the doorway of the lab, staring at the teen.

Hank whirled around, eyes widening when he saw Alex. "Alex! I didn't hear you."

Alex snorted and walked into the room, "Obviously. So what are you working on now? I hope it's not that stupid cure again?"

"No," Hank shook his head, "I meant it when I said I wasn't going to use it. In fact, I've already destroyed it."

"Good," Alex nodded. He came to a stop next to the other teen, and leaned against the table, facing the doorway.

"Was there something you wanted?" Hank asked. Being around Alex always made his pulse race and his stomach feel as if he had butterflies and being this close really wasn't helping. He knew that he had feelings for the blond—it had taken him awhile to admit to himself actually—but he had no idea how Alex felt about him. A part of him was desperate to know while the other part was happy not knowing. Ignorance was bliss after all.

Alex bit his lip and kept his gaze on the doorway, not turning to look at the scientist. There was something he wanted to Hank about, but he wasn't sure how to do it. For weeks now—well, actually, if he really thought about it, it goes back to when they first met—he's felt weird around Hank. He's always had these feelings for the other teen, and he had thought that it was just because of who they were and that he loved picking on the boy because of that, but he had realized that Hank was the only one he picked on. Even Sean had noticed it.

It wasn't until the Beach Incident, had he finally started to realize that maybe his picking on Hank wasn't just because Hank was a geek and pretty much smarter than him, but it was something more.

That day a few weeks ago, when Charles had explained everything to them, the way Hank had been able to calm him down and push back his power with just a gentle touch, at the time, he had been confused, but after spending these last few weeks thinking things over, he finally realized why the other teen had been able to do that and what his feelings really were.

He liked Hank. As in, he liked him more than a fellow mutant and friend; he liked him the way Erik and Charles liked each other. And the really freaky thing about was, instead of freaking him out like he thought it would to know he liked another boy, he was calm. In fact, the only thing he was worried about was Hank's reaction.

He didn't know how the other teen felt about him—he was sure that maybe he was angry at him just a little for the way he'd been treating him—and he wasn't sure just how Hank would react to know he had feelings for him…maybe even loved him, or even if he it wasn't love yet, it could be.

"Alex?" Hank called again, his voice gentle and not wanting to startle the other teen.

Alex blinked and shifted to stare fully at the teen. "Yeah?"

"You ok?" Hank asked as he fiddled with his lab coat. He really needed to get over these nervous fluttering in his stomach.

"Yeah," Alex nodded and then sighed, "I just-there's something I have to talk to you about."

"Is it about your suit?" Hank frowned. He leaned off the table and moved to the other one, where his notes on the Alex's prototype suit were laying.

"No," Alex reached out and grabbed the taller teen's arm, stopping him. "It's not about the suit. It's something else."

"Well what is it?" Hank asked. He looked at the blond and noticed not only that he still had a hold on his arm, but the way he was biting his lip and shifting his gaze around. It was as if the blond was really nervous about whatever it is he wanted to talk about.

"Look," he started, "I know we've had our differences, but Alex, you know you can talk to me about anything."

Alex sighed. He looked down to where he was holding Hank's arm and after a few seconds of staring, he slowly slid his hand down until he was able to tangle their fingers together. He decided to just say it.

"I like you."

Hank wasn't staring at Alex's face. He was too busy looking at their joined hands to even think of looking anywhere else.

At Alex's words, he looked up, startled. "What?"

"I like you," Alex repeated.

Hank frowned, "If you like me, then why did you keep picking on me? I mean, I didn't do-

Alex kissed him.

Hank's eyes went wide and he froze.

Feeling the other teen freeze, Alex mentally berated himself. He should've known better than to think Hank would return his feelings. He started to pull back.

Feeling Alex pull back, Hank quickly got over his shock and kissed him back.

The blond was surprised by the move, but quickly got over it; he untangled their hands and moved to wrap his arms around the taller teen's neck and stepped closer.

A groan slipped from Hank when he felt Alex's body settle against his own. His hands settled on Alex's waist, tugging the blond even closer, erasing what little space had remained between them.

A tongue swiped across a bottom lip, mouths opened and moans sounded in the room as tongues duelled each other.

Surprisingly, or not, Hank won the duel, claiming dominance, which Alex happily surrendered to. The kiss became more heated and passionate and went on for a few minutes until air became an issue.

The boys pulled apart, and rested their foreheads together as they tried to get their breathing under control.

"Wow," Alex panted out.

"Y-yeah," Hank stuttered. He couldn't believe Alex had kissed him. Alex had kissed him. And he enjoyed it. So much.

"So," Alex started once he could talk without the heavy breathing, "I guess this means you like me too."

Hank rolled his eyes. "I wouldn't have kissed you back if I didn't."

"Smart ass," Alex quipped, but he still couldn't stop the smile from breaking free.

As happy as Hank was with the way things were going, he had to know something. "Why now?"

Alex let out a deep sigh, "To be honest; I've always liked you. You never realized that you're the only one I picked on? I didn't realize why at first. It wasn't until The Beach Incident, that it hit me that maybe I picked on you for more than the fact that you are a geek. I never thought you'd feel the same way about me though. I mean; you were with Raven all the time and it was obvious that you liked her and I was always mean to you. To be honest, I never planned on telling you. But, then with everything that happened with Erik, I decided to just go for it."

Hank bent down and kissed Alex briefly. "I admit I was attracted to Raven, but looking back, I can say it was because she was pretty much the first girl to ever look at me and not see a geek or a freak or anything. When we first met, one of the first things she said to me was that I was amazing. And then I met you and I felt an instant attraction, but I never thought you'd ever like me back; one reason being because you always picked on me and another—the biggest—reason being my mutation. I was convinced that you wouldn't be able to accept it."

Alex shook his head. "Hank, I'm sorry for that. I think I did it because it was the only way to get your attention. I've spent my life avoiding people because I was afraid I would end up hurting them and then you came along and I had all these weird feelings for you and I had no idea what they meant, so I misread them."

Hank grinned and pressed a brief kiss to Alex's lips. "I understand. You know though, that we're going to have a difficult time. I mean, things would be difficult already given the fact that we're mutants, but add in the fact that we're gay."

"I know," Alex nodded, a serious look in his eyes, "But, I look at the professor and Erik and I see how they're not ashamed of who they are and the strength they gain from each other. I'm not ashamed of who I am, and I'm willing to work at this and stick by you if you're willing to do the same."

"I am," Hank agreed and kissed him again. He couldn't stop. He loved the feel and taste of Alex's lips.

"**Boys…can you come to the kitchen please?" **Charles' voice echoed in their heads and the two pulled from the kiss quickly.

"Sounds serious," Hank frowned as he looked up at the ceiling.

"Come on," Alex stepped back, but kept a hold of Hank, "Let's go."

~…~

Charles was leaning against Erik—who was still leaning against the counter—when the three boys came in the kitchen.

"What's up prof?" Sean asked as he sat down at the table.

"We have a situation," Charles spoke first. "You know that the C.I.A. currently has Emma in custody and you know that she is a telepath."

"Wait, are you saying that you think Emma might try something?" Alex interrupted.

"Knowing who Emma is, I don't doubt she won't try something," Erik said, "Which is why we need to figure out how to deal with the situation before anything serious happens." He said nothing else. Charles knew his stance on Emma; as far as he was concerned, she was too dangerous to be alive.

Emma may not be as powerful a telepath as Charles, but that didn't mean she wasn't still a threat. She could still influence someone into doing what she wanted.

And another thing, Shaw was out of his mind. And the fact is, she had willingly joined him. There was no force from him, no nothing. She had been with him because she had wanted to be, because she had actually believed in what he had planned to do.

And he knew that from the two visions that Charles had shown him that she turned out to be nothing but trouble. So in his mind, Emma couldn't be allowed to live. But he wasn't going to say anything, he would let Charles and the others think of ideas and then they would discuss and hopefully come to a decision that they all could agree on and live with.

"He's right," Alex grunted out. "But what do we do? She's still in custody at the C.I.A."

"If she's a telepath," Sean asked, "couldn't she just, walk out or make them let her out?"

His question had them frowning.

"She could," Hank nodded thoughtfully, "and it makes you wonder why she hasn't as yet. Do you think she's up to something?"

Charles shifted against Erik, "Well, as of right now, the C.I.A believes that both Erik and Shaw are dead."

"Wait," Raven spoke up, "If Emma is still there, wouldn't she be able to read from Moira's mind that it isn't true?"

Charles shook his head, "No, she won't be able to tell Moira's mind was tampered with and even if she did, well, Ms. Frost's is not more powerful than me and I wouldn't hesitate to let her know."

Raven stared at her brother. "Since when do you think like that? You always believed that we shouldn't use our powers against others."

Charles' eyes hardened slightly, "I did and I still do, but the events in Cuba and Moira's own actions have taught me one thing; I cannot continue being passive aggressive. While I do not condone violence, I will not allow anyone to hurt somebody I care about. If I am backed into a corner, I will not hesitate to use my powers and show them just why telepaths should be feared."

All the teens were silent as they digested his words. They were finding it a little hard to reconcile the man in front of them to the man they had first met.

For Erik, a part of him mourned the loss of that bit of innocence of Charles, but the bigger part of him relished in the new Charles.

Charles looked at the taller man out of the corner of his eye and hid a smirk. **"Not the time Erik."**

"**What Maus?"**

Charles chuckled and turned to look at the teens. He could easily read their minds and see what they were thinking, but he didn't. He remembered what the mystery person had told him about talking to understand instead of just picking it from their minds.

"Is there a problem?" Erik asked when the teens had been silent for too long.

"No," Raven answered first, though she was looking at her brother with awe. "It's just—for the longest while I'd hope that you'd realize that things couldn't continue the way they had been; that you'd see that we can't always take the high road. It's just nice to see that you finally do, that's all."

"So what are we going to do about Emma?" Sean asked, bringing the group back to focus.

Alex crossed his arms, "I say we go to the C.I.A and get her out—

"What?/Why?!" echoed from Sean and Raven. Even Hank was looking at him with an 'are you nuts?' expression. Only Erik and Charles didn't react; Charles because he knew the man probably read the idea in his mind and Erik, well, he knew enough about him by now to know that Erik knew exactly where he was going.

Alex looked at the other three, "Just hear me out. You know we can't leave Emma there. She's a telepath and she's a complete homicidal bitch. I mean, she willing joined that Shaw dude didn't she?"

"I get that," Raven nodded.

"The professor and Erik were right," Alex continued, "Emma is too dangerous to leave there. We can get in, the professor could knock her out and then we leave and then figure out what to do with her."

"And how would we get in?" Hank asked. He turned to Charles and Erik, "I know you can use your powers, but it's still a risk."

"Not for me," Charles said. It wasn't that he was bragging, but he knew what he could and couldn't do. And if he was honest with himself, ever since that awful day, he's felt as if his powers have expanded. "I did it the first time Raven and I had met with Stryker and the director of the C.I.A. I can easily do it again."

"And if not," Alex picked up, "we could always use the teleporter. I'm sure the professor could find him. He did that day at the hospital."

"I say we do it," Sean said causing everyone to look at him. "Well, you guys said she's dangerous and we know how some of those people at the C.I.A thought about us, so we need to get rid of her and undo whatever damage she's done."

Erik stared at the teen. "That was surprisingly eloquent and smart."

Sean flushed at his words but still made sure not to look at the German for too long. The man still scared the crap out of him and the way he stared unblinkingly was making him really nervous and had him wishing for some weed.

"Erik," Charles chastised softly without looking at the taller man. He didn't have to use his telepathy to see that Sean was a little unnerved by the way Erik was staring.

Erik's lips curled up into a grin, making Sean whimper and Alex look away as Hank contemplated running.

"So what are we going to do about Emma?" Raven asked, though she didn't look too closely at the German. Hey, she may have been the bravest out of the four of them, and the closest to Erik, but that didn't mean the man didn't scare her either.

"What do you mean?" Hank looked at the blue girl with furrowed brows.

"I mean," Raven explained, "even if we go to the C.I.A., what's the plan for when we get there? Obviously we're going to get Emma out, but what happens after that? She can't stay here and we can't really let her go—who knows what kind of damage she'd do?"

Charles looked at them all, "So we're all in agreement then?"

Everyone nodded.

"Good," Charles said, "Tomorrow, we make our way to the C.I.A. base to deal with Emma once and for all."

~…~

Getting into the base was a lot easier than the teens expected, but of course, that probably had more to do with the fact that Charles was way more lenient about using his powers than before than them being any kind of stealthy.

They found the room Emma was being held in.

"She's here," Charles nodded at the door.

Erik glanced at him before using his powers to unlock the door and open it.

Both men had the pleasure at seeing Emma caught off guard for once.

"Hello Emma," Charles greeted smoothly; as if it was a regular occurrence for him to be there.

"Xavier," Emma greeted as she took a smooth step back while shifting into her diamond form, "Lehnsherr." She glanced to the teens leaning back against the wall by the door, "And I see you brought your band of misfits. How delightful."

Charles grinned at her, "Don't think that form is going to protect you my dear."

Emma raised an eyebrow before smirking, her eyes shifting to Erik and back to Charles, "Oh I'm sure it will."

Charles shook his head, "I'm not the same person I was in Russia Emma."

Emma's laugh was harsh and mocking. "I doubt you have the power, and even if you did, you Xavier are too compassionate to use your power in such a way."

"**Do it," **Erik commanded firmly yet gently. He knew Charles could handle himself. That was the only thing stopping from using every metal in the room to attack the woman in front of him.

Emma was smirking. She wasn't afraid as she knew there was no way he would be able to penetrate her diamond shield. But, it was amusing to watch him try, so she just relaxed; well, as much as she could because although Xavier might not be a problem, Lehnsherr was. She didn't forget the last encounter they had. She knew if Xavier hadn't been there, he would've killed her.

Charles ignored Emma's smirking. He remembered that awful day at the hospital; finding that someone he had trusted had turned so completely against, had tried to kill the person he loved, had filled him with such a rage and he had felt a shift in his powers.

The thing is; what no one knew—not even Raven—was how powerful he really was. Erik knew because he had wanted to start their life together with no secrets and after what had happened at the hospital with Moira, he had to tell him.

He was very powerful, but because before, he'd always been afraid of the power, and too afraid to even let it go a bit, he had kept a leash on them. The reason he had said he hadn't been able to penetrate Emma's shields back in Russia was because at the time, he hadn't wanted the other telepath to know just how powerful he really was. But that day in the hospital, everything had changed. Moira's betrayal had snapped almost all of his control over his powers.

It was the reason he had been able to touch Azazel's mind and pull the teleporter to him. And with the leash loose enough, his power had spilt out and it had taken a lot of control to reign the power back in. He could feel Erik in his mind and he let it ground him as he tapped into his powers.

He smirked and tore through Emma's mind; it took a while because she was strong, but eventually, he did it. He broke through the diamond shields she had in place as if they were paper.

Emma cried out in shock as she fell to the ground, her diamond form disappearing as she did so. She felt the intrusion in her mind and her shock and disbelief had given Xavier enough time to delve further. But she caught herself and tried to force him out.

It didn't work.

No matter how much she tried to push him out, she could feel him pushing back and overpowering her.

For perhaps the second time in her life, tears filled her eyes and Emma looked up through blurry eyes to find Xavier's eyes on hers. But his eyes were different; instead of the normal sky blue, they seemed darker somehow.

And for the first time in her life, she begged, "Please…stop…"

Erik hated Emma, he really did, but he loved Charles and he knew if Charles broke Emma, no matter how much he had changed from the person he was when they first met, he would be hurting over what he did to her.

So, he stepped forward and gently grabbed his lover's shoulder. **"Enough maus. Let her go."**

Charles heard the words and took a deep breath, drawing his power back under control. His eyes lightened up and he looked down at the woman on the floor. "I told you, I'm not the same person I was in Russia."

Emma got herself under control and slowly got to her feet. Feeling drained, she sat on the bed. "What do you want?"

"We want you out of here," Erik spoke even as he drew Charles into his embrace. He knew the man was still coming to terms with his new power and fully controlling it. "To be honest Emma, you're too dangerous to leave in the hands of the C.I.A. especially with men like Colonel Stryker around. We cannot leave you here."

Back in control of her emotions, Emma raised an eyebrow. "And what exactly are you proposing sugar? That I stay with you?"

Alex snorted, not even flinching when the blonde turned to look at him. As far as he was concerned, her looks were nothing compared to Erik's. Even a tame one from the man had him shaking in fear.

"Can you promise to leave them alone?" Charles asked as he gestured to the teens behind him, "To not use your powers against them in any way? Against anyone really, without provocation?"

Emma held in her instinctual reaction and actually thought on his words. Truth is, she wasn't that kind of person. She relished the thought of the power she could have over others, of getting them to do what she wanted. She wanted power.

"Let me ask you something," Erik said, drawing the blonde's attention, "Shaw, did you go with him willingly or did he promise you something?"

"Sebastian appreciated me and he was fascinated by my power," Emma replied curtly, "What he wanted to do was for mutants to rule the world, to overpower the humans."

"Are you stupid?" Hank couldn't help but to blurt out. "The professor and Erik told us Shaw's plan and that was probably the most idiotic thing anyone ever wanted to do. Do you have any idea what a nuclear war would've done to everyone? How do you know our mutant power would've excluded us from the effects of the blast? And even if we had survived it, how would we have survived afterwards? The nuclear blast would've wiped out everything; plants, animals, water sources…everything!"

Alex squeezed his boyfriend's hand in support. He hadn't thought deeply about the ramifications of what Shaw had wanted to do, but hearing Hank now, it sent shudders through him. To think, if they hadn't stopped that madman, then they might not be here right now.

"He's right Emma," Charles said when the woman kept staring at Hank with a probing gaze.

Emma turned her attention to Xavier.

"Do you really think Shaw would've had you as an equal?" Erik scoffed. He knew Shaw; that man was nothing but power hungry. He didn't do anything unless it would benefit him in some way.

"The man was for himself and himself alone," Raven added on, unknowingly echoing Erik's thoughts.

"Oh sugar," Emma tsked, "you know nothing of the relationship I had with Sebastian."

The four teens grimaced, and Sean actually looked green.

"Gross," Alex commented, not needing that mental image. It was bad enough to live with Charles and Erik.

"If that were really true Emma," Charles said, "then why did he start wearing the helmet in your presence?"

To that, Emma had no words. She wanted to defend the man, but the truth is, the moment Sebastian had placed the helmet on his head, she had felt a flash of betrayal.

"**Would you like to know what Sebastian Shaw was really like and what he really thought of you?" **Charles projected to the other telepath.

He showed her. Shaw's final thoughts, his actual plans, everything; when he was done, he waited.

Emma had no emotion on her face, but neither Erik nor Charles was surprised. The woman was referred to as the Ice Queen for a reason.

Emma stared at the two men in front of her, completely ignoring the others; they weren't important. She had never underestimated Lehnsherr, but she had seriously underestimated Xavier.

Never had she ever thought that he would've been able to get through her shields and that he would've been so vindictive when he did. She wondered, briefly, what had happened to change him so drastically, but pushed it away. It wasn't really any of her concerns.

Though she wouldn't admit it, it hurt to see Sebastian's plans for her, to see what he really thought of her. All the time she had thought she was his equal, that they were doing something amazing together, but all he had seen her as was a means to an end, a pet to replace the one he had lost.

But she wouldn't let them see that. There was a reason she was called the Ice Queen.

Sighing, she walked back to the bed and sat down. "So sugar, tell me, what is the plan you have for me? You seem to have it all figured out."

"We're going to get you out of here," Erik said, "the CIA will have no reason to come after you and in turn,"

"In turn," Charles continued, "you will move away from here. I don't care where you go, but, you cannot and will not use your telepathy against anyone, especially humans and innocents."

"Well that doesn't sound like fun," Emma quipped, "I do love to play."

"Emma," Charles warned, his eyes darkening slightly as the temperature in the room dropped a little. "You follow our rules or I make the rest of your stay here unpleasant and you know I can."

The two locked eyes in a silent battle of will. Around the room, the metal vibrated, the hum echoing and pulling the two away.

Emma's eyes darted over to the taller man and she suppressed the shiver and the urge to step back. Erik Lehnsherr scared her more than Sebastian ever did. She saw Xavier grinning and knew that he had picked up on that.

Making a show as if it was her idea, Emma got off the bed, "Well if this is a breakout, then we should be on our way, shouldn't we?"

"I say we leave her," Raven muttered as Sean and Alex agreed with her.

"We can't," Hank muttered back.

"Let's go," Charles said, and the group turned to leave.

As they walked through the hallways of the building, Emma was impressed by the fact that no one paid any attention to them, but she would never tell Xavier that—though she suspected he knew.

"What about the head of the CIA and that Stryker dude?" Alex asked, "I mean, they knew she was here."

"Yes I know," Charles said, "but all the information they had on her will mean nothing as they can't prove she did anything and they know she's a telepath, so they'll be convinced she was able to leave on her own. That she manipulated someone into helping her."

"So I've been delegated to the bad guy should this all go up in flames?" Emma raised a delicate eyebrow.

"That surprises you?" Raven snorted. "You are a bad guy and you should be lucky we're getting you out and letting you go."

"Behave," Charles warned, "both of you."

Things were quiet after that, but the tension was still the air and it didn't really dissipate until they had left the compound and was close enough to civilisation.

"Are you sure you don't want to join us?" Charles asked, ignoring the sputtering and looks from the others, especially the mental commentary from Erik.

"Oh sugar," Emma grinned, delighting in the reactions of everyone. "While it would be completely and satisfyingly entertaining, I don't belong with your motley crew. I'll do better on my own."

"Very well then," Charles nodded. "If you ever change your mind, just give me a call." He tapped his temple at the last words.

"Well it's been fun," Emma smiled, "I must say I did enjoy my stay, but it would be more fun to explore on my mind. Who knows what damage I could do?"

Erik snarled and stepped forward, sending a flicker of fear through Emma.

"Erik," Charles placed a hand on the German's chest, stopping his movement and he looked at Emma, having caught the fear and almost grinned. Almost. "Goodbye Emma Frost."

"Xavier," Emma nodded and gave one last smile to the group before she turned and walked away.

The group watched her go.

"I still say we should've gotten rid of her," Raven crossed her arms over her chest.

"Agreed," Alex nodded.

"We're not murderers," Charles frowned at both of them.

"I know," Raven nodded, "but I'm just saying; for her, I' totally become one."

"No you wouldn't," Erik said, "neither Charles nor I would allow you, any of you, to have that kind of thing on you."

The teens stared at Erik for just a few seconds before shifting their gaze.

"You're still going to keep an eye on her right?" Hank asked.

"Oh most definitely," Charles nodded, "Now come on; let's go back to the mansion. We have a lot of things to be done."

~…~

It's been about two months since the group's visit to the CIA, and things were moving along just fine for the X group.

The time after Emma left, had been getting all the materials and things ready for Hank to rebuild Cerebro; well, build a better one—one that would be able to handle Charles' new power, or rather, his grown telepathy.

Charles knew Erik would learn how to manipulate the magnetic fields to make him fly and since the metal bender had seen the visions as well, he knew it too and spent time that he wasn't working on Cerebro, trying to harness that power.

The mansion had gain two new occupants about three weeks after rescuing Emma when Azazel and Janos showed up.

Of course the boys had been sceptical, but Raven—no surprise—had been open-minded and had taken a shine to the red-skinned mutant and it was obvious that the shine was mutual. And a few weeks later, the two had announced the decision to be a couple.

Janos had been given chef duty after the silent man revealed his culinary skills, something which everyone was extremely thankful for.

Azazel had been a huge help, especially during winter and his power had come in handy when they needed things and the place was too cold to venture outside.

Christmas and New Year's came and passed and by the time March came around, Cerebro was finished.

~…~

"Alex?" Hank's brows furrowed as he looked at his boyfriend as he walked into the bedroom they shared. For the last few weeks, Alex had been quiet…too quiet and it had bothered Hank because Alex was never this quiet. She knew something was bothering the blond, but he had no idea what it was. He was never one to push and he figured that Alex would come to him when he was ready to talk about it.

But, looking at him now, he couldn't let it go.

"Alex, what's wrong?" Hank asked as he walked over to the bed and sat next to the blond. "You've been really quiet these last few weeks and I'm worried. Talk to me."

"The professor's gonna start looking for other mutants now," Alex said after a short while.

"Yeah," Hank nodded. "But not yet. He wants the school to be completely ready and it's not yet. I mean, we've got pretty much all of the rooms done."

Hank paused, "Is that what's bothering you? That more mutants are going to live here? I thought you said you were ok with it?"

"I am!" Alex protested as he looked up at Hank, "I really am. That's not it at all."

Hank reached over and grabbed Alex's hand, "Then what is it?"

"My brother," Alex whispered.

Hank was shocked. He had no idea Alex had a brother. "Your brother?"

"His name's Scott," Alex revealed, "He's younger than me. After the fire that killed our parents, Scott and I went into foster care, but we were never placed together. Our case worker didn't even try. I have no idea where he is or if he's ok, but I need to find him. Do you think the professor would use Cerebro to find him if I ask?"

"Of course he would!" Hank gently grabbed the blond's chin and turned his head so they were looking at each other, "You know the professor would do anything for any of us. I mean, Raven told me that that's how they became siblings in the first place. She was homeless and he took in her and made her his sister, so why wouldn't he help you try to find Scott."

Hank looked at the teen and saw a deeper worry and he knew, that that wasn't all. "What else is it?"

"I'm scared," Alex whispered, "What if he blames me or he hates me because I never tried to find him before? What if he doesn't want to come with me?"

"Alex," Hank leaned in and kissed him; just gentle pressure, no tongue. "Your brother will not hate you. If anything, he'll be glad to be reunited with you."

Alex snorted, "How can you be so sure?"

"Well one of us has to be the optimistic one," Hank grinned, "this relationship can't handle both of us being negative."

Alex chuckled and leaned into Hank, settling his head on the scientist's shoulders. "I love you, you know that?"

Hank's breath caught. It was just last year they had admitted they had feelings for each other. He knew how he felt about the blond, and had even thought about admitting what he really felt, but he had held himself back. And he never thought that Alex's feelings would evolve to love and definitely not so soon.

"I love you too," Hank bit his lip and smiled, his cheeks staining red from the flush of pleasure. "Now come on, let's go talk with the professor."

Alex's smile was huge at the reciprocated words. Never did he think someone would ever feel the way about him that Hank did and it filled him with such a rush of joy and pleasure. "Ok."

~…~

When they got to the living room, they stopped short at the sight of their two mentors curled up on the couch.

Charles was cuddled into Erik's side, his head on the taller man's chest and his feet stretched out. Erik had an arm around the shorter man's shoulders and a book in his hand.

Charles' eyes were closed and it looked like he was sleeping peacefully.

Something about the image made neither of the two want to interrupt.

"Come in boys," Charles called out as he opened his eyes to look at them. "You're not interrupting."

Of course, you couldn't hide when living with a telepath.

"Yes they are," Erik glared at the two and both boys seriously wondered if it would be bad form if they turned tail and straight out ran from the room.

"Erik," Charles chided as he gently slapped the man's chest. He turned back to the teens, "Come sit down."

Alex and Hank shared a look before walking further into the room and over to the couch opposite the two older men, dropping into it.

Hank nudged Alex. "Go on."

Alex glared briefly at the teen, but there was no heat behind it. He turned back to Charles and let out a sigh, "I wanted to talk to you about—

"Scott," Charles interrupted.

Alex started but then scolded himself. Of course Charles knew; the man could read minds after all.

"You've been broadcasting pretty loudly the last few days—weeks I suppose as well," Charles replied, "it's been hard not to hear your thoughts."

Alex let out a breath, "I'm sorry, I just-I want to find him. I need to find him."

Charles stared at the teen before getting up off Erik, who was protesting mentally.

"**Oh behave," **Charles chided, **"You can't hide from me Erik Lehnsherr. I know you want to find Scott for Alex, just as much as I do. I honestly don't know why the kids are afraid of you so when you're such a softie underneath it all."**

"**I am not!" **Erik protested as he stood up, automatically placing a hand on the small of Charles' back. **"Tonight maus…I'll show you how far from soft I am."**

The underlying sexual note had Charles shivering and he suddenly couldn't wait for tonight. He's always been somewhat free when it came to sex, but somehow, being with Erik left him completely insatiable.

Guess it was true what they said; sex was ultimately better when you were in love with the person and had a connection with them.

"**I'm holding you to that," **Charles replied, his blue eyes darkening slightly.

Alex swallowed and Hank blanched slightly. Somehow, they didn't know how, but they attributed it to that instinct that every child had when it came to their parents and sex, but they knew something sexual had just been exchanged and just…no…no child wanted to know anything about their parents' sex life.

Charles looked over his shoulder at the two and grinned, causing both boys to look away in embarrassment.

~…~

As Hank helped Charles get connected to Cerebro, Erik and Alex stood off watching them.

As much as Erik knew that having the machine was good, he couldn't help but to be apprehensive. He didn't like the first one, and though this one was infinitely safer, he still didn't like it.

"I'll be fine," Charles said, reassuring the German. He knew how protective Erik was and knew how much he worried.

"Oh you will be," Erik nodded as he stepped forward to grab the railing, his hands resting on the outsides of Charles' own hands. "Or all of Hank's hard work will be for nothing."

The threat was simple; should Charles be hurt, the machine would be destroyed. And it was one that none of them doubted.

"Alright," Hank nodded and stepped away from Charles. "We're good to go."

"Ok," Charles said, "Don't move."

And then, his mind was gone. Thousands upon thousands of minds touched his, but he ignored them all and focused on the one he was searching for.

Erik's mind was a muted presence in his own, but he still knew it was there and he used it as an anchor.

Within minutes, he had found Scott. What he saw, had his heart breaking and he couldn't help but to send out tendrils of reassurance towards the young teen.

Closing the connection, Charles let out a deep breath as he lifted the helmet off and rested it on the side.

"And?" Alex came over, eagerness and trepidation written all over him.

"I found him," Charles confirmed.

Alex's body seemed to sag with relief. "And he's ok, right?"

Charles frowned.

"**Tell him Liebling," **Erik coaxed, **"The sooner he knows, the sooner we can go get the kid."**

Charles could feel the anger rolling through Erik and he couldn't help but to be pleased, and slightly shocked, at the level of control the metal bender was displaying.

Shaking his head, Charles turned to Erik, "It's bad."

Alex blanched and then took a deep breath to steady himself, "How bad?"

~…~

Alex stared at the window as the car drove through the streets of New York. He still couldn't believe what the professor and Erik had told him.

Scott, his little brother, was basically living on the streets. Yeah Scott had gone into a foster home, but it turned out that that home was just the first one. His younger brother had been shipped from home to home until this last one which was so bad, it caused the boy to run away.

And the worst of it is, the family didn't even seem to care. They didn't report him missing and they didn't even try to look for him.

His brother was out there all alone, scared and worried, and he needed to find him.

"It's gonna be ok," Charles said as he turned in his seat to look back at the teen.

"Is it?" Alex snorted. He wished Hank had come along, but Erik had decided that the less the better as they didn't want to overwhelm Scott and though Hank and Raven had wanted to protest, when Erik said no, he meant it; especially if Charles agreed with him then there'd be no changing his mind.

No more said and the drive was quiet. At least…on Alex's end.

Charles was doing everything he could to calm Erik down. **'Calm down Erik. We do not need to be in accident. We're going to find Scott and bring him back and take care of him. I know you want to find the foster parents, but you can't. We have more important things.'**

'**I know that,' **Erik replied, **'but that doesn't mean I can't get angry. Damnit Charles, what that boy is going through.'**

'**I know,' **Charles soothed, **'now calm down before you run us off the road.'**

With a sigh, Erik allowed the tension to ease from his body.

"How much further?" Alex asked.

"About five more minutes," Charles glanced back at the teen. "It's ok to be nervous and scared, but you need to make sure you get it rid before you meet him because he'll be nervous and scared too. And with his power, that won't be good."

Alex let out a sigh, "I know." He still couldn't believe that Scott had powers, although it shouldn't have surprised him. He had, so why wouldn't Scott have powers as well?

"We're here," Erik said as he stopped the car.

They had stopped on a near empty alleyway. And Alex was out of the car before Erik had fully turned it off.

Blue eyes peered down the alley, scanning every crevice for his little brother. "Where is he?"

"Down here," Charles said as he led the teen further in.

Erik had opted to stay by the car, knowing that too much people crowding Scott would not be a good thing.

"Scott?" Charles called out, "Scott Summers?"

There was no answer, and then.

"Go away!" a young voice shouted out.

Alex gasped at his brother's voice before quickening his pace, hurrying to where it came from. He stopped in shock in front of a young boy sitting on the ground behind a dumpster, leaning against the wall with his knees pulled up to his chest and his arms wrapped around them. His eyes were clenched tightly shut.

"I can hear you moving in front of me," Scott said, without opening his eyes, "Go away!"

Charles touched Alex's shoulder. **'You're the only one to get through to him right now. He needs his big brother.'**

Alex swallowed back his emotions and nodded, "Scott."

Scott froze and then he started shaking his head, "No, it's not real. Just go away. You're not real. You're not here."

Alex's heart broke at his brother's words, "Scott, it's me Alex." He reached out a trembling hand and gently touched Scott's shoulder. "It's me."

Scott turned his head to the voice and when he spoke, his voice trembled with emotions, "Alex? That's really you?"

"It's really me," Alex let out a sob, "I've come to take you home."

Scott unwrapped his arms and slowly reached up to grab the hand on his shoulder. "You're real."

"Yeah I am bud," Alex nodded, tears running down his cheeks, "I'm real."

Scott trembled as he let out a cry and pitched forward.

Alex caught him and the two brothers held tight to each other as they shared their first hug in years.

"I'm here," Alex repeated over and over, his tears falling faster at Scott's cries.

Charles' heart melts at the sight and while he would love to give them more time, he knew they had to leave.

"Guys, we've got to go," Charles said.

Scott jumped at the voice, but is soothed by his brother.

"It's ok," Alex told him, "He's a friend. He helped me find you."

"Ok," Scott nodded, trusting his brother.

"Scott," Charles said, "My name is Charles Xavier. Your brother lives with me and six other people. One of them is waiting for us right now. His name is Erik Lehnsherr. None of us are going to hurt you. You'll be safe with us."

Scott said nothing. He just tightened his grip on Alex.

Alex closed his eyes briefly and stood up, allowing Scott to wrap his legs around his waist. "You ready to leave?"

"You won't leave me?" Scott asked, needing to be sure. He never wanted to be away from Alex again. He had missed him a lot.

"Never again," Alex reassured the boy.

"Ok," Scott sighed and his body went limp.

"Scott!" Alex cried out, terrified.

"It's ok," Charles told him, "he just passed out. He's been scared out of his mind the last few days and now he's safe."

"He's fine?" Alex asked. His hands ran over Scott's body as if searching for injuries.

"Yes," Charles nodded, "He's just exhausted. Come on, let's go."

The trio turned and left the alley.

Erik's eyes scanned over them as they returned, stopping briefly on the boy in Alex's arms. He said nothing, already getting everything from Charles, and just opened the doors to the car.

"Thanks," Alex muttered as he carefully eased into the backseat, not wanting to disturb Scott.

Making sure everyone was secured, Erik took off for the mansion.

~…~

When they got back to the mansion, Scott was still sleeping, so Charles mentally informed the others of their arrival.

They headed into the living room, finding the others—with the exception of Janos and Azazel—sitting around.

"Did you find him?" Raven asked when she saw her brother and Erik.

"We did," Charles nodded as he walked further into the room with Erik.

Behind them, Alex walked in with his brother in his arms.

The teens' eyes went wide as they stared at their friend.

"Dude!" Sean breathed as he stood up.

Alex sat down, adjusting the sleeping Scott in his arms so the boy would be more comfortable.

"Is he ok?" Hank asked as he moved to sit next to his boyfriend.

"He isn't hurt," Alex answered, "thank God for that, but emotionally," he shrugged.

"Understandable," Raven nodded. "Where'd you find him? Were the parents okay with letting him go?"

Alex closed his eyes briefly. "He was living on the streets."

"What?" Hank, as well as the others were shocked.

"Yeah,"' Alex gave a dry laugh, "He's been living on the streets for a while now and his foster family didn't even care. They never reported him missing or anything."

Raven's eyes darkened as her gaze shifted to the young boy. She knew exactly how that felt. Her own family had kicked her out and she had been living on the streets, trying to survive until the night she broke into Charles' house, this house. From that night one, she had never been alone again and she had finally had family and a place to call her home.

She glanced up and saw Charles looking at her with a soft smile and couldn't help but to smile back. She was eternally grateful to Charles for giving her a home, a place to feel safe.

'_**You're welcome.' **_Echoed in her head and she grinned.

Before anyone could say anything else, Scott started shifting in his brother's arms.

The moment he woke, he stiffened as he couldn't remember where he was; all he knew was that he wasn't in the alley anymore. Suddenly, he was terrified that someone had taken him when he had fallen asleep.

Charles frowned as he picked up on the thoughts of the boy and directed them to Alex.

"Scott, it's ok," Alex soothed.

"Alex?" Scott stopped moving and shifted his head slightly to his brother's voice, "It's not a dream. It's really you?"

"Yeah," Alex squeezed the boy, "you're with me now."

Scott started crying and shifted slowly, trying to wrap his arms around Alex's neck, who in turn helped him out when he realized what the boy was trying to do.

"I thought I'd never see you again," Scott cried. "T-they said y-you wouldn't w-want me."

Alex's grip tightened almost imperceptibly and Erik's eyes narrowed as the metal in the room began to sing.

A wave of calm washed over the room, soothing everyone's emotions.

"They lied and you forget everything they told you, ok?" Alex told him. "You are never going back to them and you're never going to be on the streets ever again. I'm not letting you go."

Everyone stared at the two brothers. They were all in shock at the way Alex was with the boy, but they knew they shouldn't be as they had seen the protectiveness from him over the last few months, especially when it came to Hank.

But they could admit that there was something different with how he was around Scott. There was a different kind of protectiveness that he held towards the boy in his arms.

"Why hasn't he opened his eyes?" Sean blurted out. He'd been watching the kid and it struck him as odd that from the moment he woke up, his eyes had remained closed. "He's not afraid of us, is he?"

Alex shook his head slowly, "No, it's not that, it's just—

"I think it would be better if you saw for yourself," Charles interrupted. _**'Azazel, could you come here please?'**_

The teleporter flashed into the room, startling the teens. Erik only knew he was coming because of the mental connection he had with Charles.

"What's going on?" Scott asked, the fear evident in his voice. He couldn't see the red-skinned man, but he had heard the noise when he entered the room and he could smell the smoke. He was scared, but he knew Alex wouldn't let anyone hurt him.

"It's alright little one," Charles smiled, "He's a friend."

"Yes?" Azazel flashed a smile at Raven before looking at Charles.

"Could you take us down to the bunker?" Charles asked.

Azazel smirked, "I can do zat."

"Great," Charles grinned. "Everyone hold hands."

Raven held onto Azazel while Sean grabbed Raven's free hand, Hank held Sean and Alex with Charles and Erik on the other side of the Russian.

Satisfied, Azazel disappeared from the room, reappearing seconds later in the underground bunker.

"Thanks Azazel," Charles gave a polite nod to the man.

"No trouble," Azazel replied. He turned to Raven, "I vill see you later."

"Count on it," Raven grinned and pressed a quick kiss to his cheek.

Charles walked over to Scott and Alex. He gestured for Alex to the boy down.

"Scott," he spoke, "It's Charles. Now, I know you're scared, but you're safe here and no one will hurt you."

"I believe you," Scott nodded, his eyes still tightly shut.

"Good," Charles smiled, "Now, when I tell you to, I want you to open your eyes."

Horror immediately filled Scott and he took a step back, "NO! I won't do that! I can't do that!"

"Yes you can," Charles replied patiently.

"Bud," Alex grabbed his brother's shoulder, "it's ok. I know you're scared but you don't have to be."

"I don't want anyone to get hurt Alex," Scott pleaded, "Please don't make me do it."

Alex knelt in front of his brother, "Listen to me; I know you're terrified, because I was terrified to."

"What?" Scott asked.

"I have a power too," Alex told him, "it's almost like yours except mine comes out of my chest."

Scott's voice trembled, "You have the power too? And it's like mine?"

"It is," Alex nodded, "And I know it's scary because you think someone will get hurt, but there is nothing to be afraid of."

"You won't leave?" Scott asked.

"I'm going to be right here, ok?" Alex said, "I won't let anything happen to you or anyone."

"Promise?" Scott demanded.

"I promise," Alex squeezed his shoulder gently. "So can you do what the professor asked?"

Scott was quiet for a few minutes before he nodded slowly, "Ok."

"Cool," Alex smiled.

Smiling at the two, Charles gestured for the others to step back and to brace themselves.

Alex had stayed next to his brother, and Erik had placed himself so that he was in a position to protect Charles, and the others, if it came down to it.

"OK Scott," Charles said, "Open your eyes…now!"

The boy did as he was told. The moment his eyes opened, two laser beams of fire—very similar to Alex's own—shot out.

"Holy shit!" Sean gasped as he took a step back. He would be the first to admit that while cool, Alex's power was definitely scary, and now, his little brother had the same power, but just out of his eyes?! Talk about freaky.

Raven let out gasp, as did Hank, but the latter's mind was already thinking up the possibilities of building something for the boy like he had done for Alex.

Erik showed no reaction, but inside, he was impressed—and awed—by the boy's power. His gaze drifted over the two brothers and it became calculating. He had never been around a pair of mutant siblings before, so it was interesting to note that the power was the same for both boys; it just manifested differently.

"You can close your eyes now Scott," Charles instructed.

Scott did as he was told with a sigh of relief. It's not that it made him hurt to do that, but because he hadn't done it in so long, the heat felt intense and he felt tired. He swayed a bit and startled when he felt the arm around his shoulders, but relaxed once he realized who it was.

"You ok Scotty?" Alex asked, the nickname from their childhood slipping out.

"'M tired," Scott mumbled.

"He has to get used to using his power or else it will constantly put a strain on his body," Erik said as he looked at the boy.

Sean looked at the German in shock, as did the others, minus Charles, who thought that the others should've known by now how caring Erik could be.

Alex turned to Hank, "is there something you can build that can help him with his eyes? I don't want to him to go through life to afraid to open them."

Hank's brows pulled together as his thoughts ran a mile a minute. "I'm sure I can work something out."

The teen turned and left the room, mumbling to himself.

"So what do we do now?" Raven asked.

"Let's rest for now," Charles said. He turned to Alex, "I'm sure he won't want to be away from you, so you can give him the room next to yours and Hank's."

Alex nodded and left the room with his sleeping brother.

Sean followed him, "Dude, this is so cool. You and your brother like have the same powers. So awesome!"

"I worry about that boy," Raven shook her head, "I really do."

Erik chuckled as did Charles.

"I'm gonna go find Az," Raven gave a saucy grin and walked away.

Charles chuckled, and Erik frowned. Even now, months later, he still wasn't used to Raven and Azazel's relationship. He had warned the teleporter of what would happen to him if she had gotten hurt.

"He won't hurt her, you know?" Charles leaned against his boyfriend, sighing when Erik's arm wrapped around his waist, pulling him closer. "He's good for her; helps her feel and be a lot more comfortable in her natural form."

"I know that," Erik said as the two left the room, Erik using his power to close the door.

"You're just protective," Charles finished.

"After that vision or whatever," Erik sighed, "they may get on my nerves and I may want to toss them all out a window most days, but they are ours."

"I know," Charles nodded. And then he grinned, "Just think, when the school is completely finished, we'll have even more to call ours."

Erik groaned, "Don't remind me."

Charles' laughter echoed through the hall.

* * *

**A/N 2:** and there's the chapter. What did you guys think? Review and let me know.


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